To  JEPOISHLEM THROUGH 
THE  LHNDS  OF  ISLHM 


BY  MHDHME  HYHCINTHE  LOYSON 


REESE  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


THE   PYRAMIDS   THROUGH   DATE   PALMS   ACROSS   THE    NILE. 


TO  JERUSALEM 


THROUGH 


THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM 


AMONG 


JEWS,  CHRISTIANS,  AND  MOSLEMS 


MADAME  HYACINTHE  LOYSON 


PREFACE  BY 

PRINCE  DE  POLIGNAC 


CHICAGO 
THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

LONDON    AGENTS 
KEGAN   PAUL,   TRENCH,  TRUBNER   &   CO.,   LTD. 

1905 


F'FSE 


COPYRIGHT  EY 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  Co. 
1905 


AVANT-PROPOS. 

BY 

YOUSSEF  ZIA  PACHA  EL  KHALIDY, 

Former  Deputy  to  the  Constitutional  Parliament  of  Turkey, 
Ex-governor  in  Palestine,  author  of  a  grammar  for  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Druses,  Professor  of  Arabic  at  the  University  of 
Vienna,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

TO 
MADAME  HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 

May  God  aid  and  bless  her  in  her  projects  of 
union  and  love  among  different  peoples! 
DEAR  MADAME: 

You  have  given  me  the  occasion,  in  announcing  the  publication 
of  your  book,  to  express  to  you  my  gratefulness  for  the  sublime 
work  which  you  have  undertaken:  that  of  reconciling  all  believers 
in  the  same  God, — and  particularly  among  Mussulmans  and  Chris- 
tians who  are  separated  by  prejudices  adroitly  circulated.  Un- 
fortunately there  are  Europeans  (and  of  other  Occidental  countries) 
who,  for  their  own  interested  motives,  still  permit  it  to  be  circulated 
that  the  Book  of  Mahomet  commands  disdain  and  hatred  to  non- 
Mussulman  people.  This  is  a  profound  error!  But  there  are 
learned  Christian  philosophers  who  have  studied  our  Moslem  Laws 
and  who  very  justly  laud  the  Koran  which  is  our  guide  in  all  things. 

You,  dear  Madame,  come  to  the  succor  of  the  oppressed;  and 
the  eyes  of  the  entire  Orient  are  upon  you.  And  what  you  have 
already  done  is  graven  on  the  hearts  of  all. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  happy  days  spent  with  you,  and  your 
illustrious  husband,  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem — which  is  the 
Holy  City  for  us  all — and  where  Pere  Hyacinthe  came  preaching, 
as  did  the  Christ,  the  reconciliation  and  unity  of  all  believers;  and 


IV 


THROUGH    THE   LANDS   OF    ISLAM. 


where  we  were  permitted  to  hold  long  conferences  concerning  these 
great  questions. 

As  a  true  disciple  of  Mahomet,  whose  religion  has  its  roots 
in  the  profound  Faith  based  upon  Reason— 

I  subscribe  myself,  dear  Madame,  the  devout  worshiper  of 
of  God  and  your  humble  servant, — 

Praying  Allah  to  accord  you  long  life  to  accomplish  your  noble 
mission. 

YOUSSEF   ZlA   EL   KHALIDY, 

Ex-Mayor  of  Jerusalem. 
April,  1901. 


PREFACE.. 

THIS  book  is  the  expression  of  truth  which  has  been  felt  and 
lived.  It  bears  witness  to  the  spirit  of  the  early  days  of 
Christianity  ; — it  is  a  revelation  of  the  mysterious  link  which  unites 
us  with  the  conquered  race  of  Islam. 

The  author  is  a  woman  of  another  continent  than  that  of  which 
she  writes,  or  in  which  she  writes.  She  has  been  for  a  tour  through 
Algeria,  a  tour  which  was  neither  scientific,  nor  historical,  nor  geo- 
graphical, but  something  better  and  more  original  than  all  these : 
a  tour  of  Christian  Exploration. 

The  result  she  has  attained  is  as  striking  as  it  wras  unexpected. 
That  result  does  not  consist  in  the  indication  of  new  riches  to  be 
exploited  in  a  conquered  country,  in  a  colony  which  is  but  an  ex- 
tension of  France,  nor  in  any  of  those  advantages  which  are  the 
ordinary  objects  and  achievements  of  our  humanitarian  explorations. 
On  the  contrary,  our  author  discovers  that  the  Arab,  though  de- 
spoiled by  our  conquest,  has  preserved  riches  of  which  we  cannot 
deprive  him,  and  advantages  which  suffice  for  his  happiness  during 
his  earthly  life.  For  what  is  to  us  merely  optional,  or  unnecessary, 
is  to  the  Arab  indispensable.  These  treasures  are  the  brotherhood 
of  souls  in  the  faith  in  God ; — the  principles  of  conduct  wrhich  result 
from  it,  and  the  admirable  instinct  which  enables  him  to  distinguish, 
even  before  a  word  has  been  spoken,  between  true  affinity  and 
hypocritical  sympathy.  These  are  the  treasures  which  "neither  moth 
nor  rust  doth  corrupt."  The  vanquished  finds  therein  a  source  of 
joy  of  which  none  can  deprive  him :  for  he  has  laid  up  his  treasure 
in  his  heart. 

Such  are  the  author's  discoveries.  Her  book  is  Hat  lux  of  our 
Algeria.  We  must  read  it — or  rather  we  must  travel  with  her, — for 
truth  guides  her  pen,  as  charity  has  guided  her  steps. 


THROUGH    THE   LANDS  $ F   ISLAM.  VI 

I  commend  to  you  therefore,  friendly  reader,  these  pages  of  a 
true  Christian  woman.  You  will  make  the  same  journey  that  she 
has  made — and  you  will  return  the  better  for  it. 

PRINCE  DE  POLIGNAC. 

Colonel  of  the  French  Army  in  Algiers. 

PARIS,  July  4,  1897. 


CONTENTS. 


Avant-propos iii 

Preface v 

Introduction I 

1.  In  the  Lands  of  Islam 1 1 

2.  In  the  Home  of  Islam .      15 

3.  A  Conference  by  Pere  Hyacinthe  in  Algiers 26 

4.  From  Algiers  to  Oran 36 

5.  A  Moonlight  Night  in  the  Atlas  Mountains 48 

6.  Oran  to  Tlemcen 54 

7.  Tlemcen.     The  Great   Mosque.     El-Eubbad.     Maussoura. 

The  Cadi 64 

8.  To  the  East 80 

9.  From  Algiers  to  Constantine 84 

10.  Tunis 95 

n.  The  Sheik-Ul-Islam 106 

12.  Malta 120 

13.  From  Malta  to  Alexandria  in  a  Hurricane 127 

14.  From  Alexandria  to  Cairo 132 

15.  The  Pyramids 137 

16.  Cairo I42 

17.  Up  the  Nile.     Karnak.  146 

18.  Upper  Egypt.     Assouan 154 

19.  Preaching  in  the  Desert 167 

20.  Philae.     Shooting  the  Cataract.     Down  the  Nile.     Luxor. 

Karnak 178 

21.  Thebes.    The  Tombs  of  the  Kings.    The  Colossi 188 

22.  Return  to  Cairo 198 

23.  The  English  in  Egypt 207 

24.  Cairo.     Concerning  Islam.     Conference  of  Pere  Hyacinthe.  212 

25.  Turning  Dervishes 220 


Vili  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

26.  The  Coptic  Church 226 

27.  Communion  in  the  Coptic  Cathedral.     The  Tewfik  Society. 

Coptic  Women 231 

28.  Second  Visit  to  the  Pyramids.     Leaving  Cairo 241 

29.  Missions  and   Missionaries 252 

30.  Alexandria .  .  261 

31.  Jaffa 265 

32.  At  Last! 271 

33.  Jerusalem.     Solomon's  Temple.     Churches.    The  Holy  Se- 

pulchre.   The  Grand  Rabbi 274 

34.  Bethlehem.     How  We  were  Stoned  in  Hebron .  .  287 

35.  Pere  Hyacinthe  Preaches  in  Jerusalem 300 

36.  The  Jordan.    Greek  Convent.    The  Dead  Sea 303 

37.  The  Easter  Vigil  in  Jerusalem 313 

38.  Juxtaposition  and  Conclusion 319 


INTRODUCTION 

WHICH    IS  A   CONFESSION. 

IN  the  first  place  this  is  not  a  book ;  but  only  a  fragmen- 
tary record  of  some  of  the  various  travels  in  foreign 
lands  in  the  years  1894-6,  with  desultory  descriptions  of 
the  places,  peoples,  and  persons;  and  also  some  intima- 
tions of  impressions  in  rare  and  common  experiences. 

The  lapse  of  time  between  these  voyages  and  their 
publication  has  been  caused  by  greater  duties,  illness, 
other  voyages,  and  from  the  hindering  fact  of  my  first 
copy  having  been  lost. 

Few  writers  have  the  courage,  or  the  fool-hardiness, 
to  tell  all  they  see  or  feel;  and  those  who  do  are  apt  to 
fail  in  edification.  I  shall  not  attempt  it. 

The  dominant  chord  of  these  impressions  is  confirmed 
faith  in  God  as  the  Omnipresent  Ruler  in  human  events, 
and  as  the  Merciful  Father. 

The  key-note  is  Peace  and  Loving-kindness,  leading 
to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth,  which  we  firmly 
believe  will  come;  else  the  Supreme  Prayer  of  our  Lord 
is  but  verbiage.  The  minor  tone  is  pity  for  the  world; 
and  the  oft-recurring  jangled  notes  are  those  of  profound 
forboding  of  disaster,  mingled  with  righteous  indignation 
and  holy  disgust  at  the  hypocritical  endeavor  of  so-called 
Christians  to  reconcile  sensuality,  paganism,  and  infidel- 
ity, with  the  life  as  in  Christ ;  and  for  pretended  moralists 
who  ignore  morality,  practising  falsehood,  theft,  adultery, 


2  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

and  massacre!  And  if  I  sometimes  lack  charity  in  ex- 
pressing my  feeling,  I  sincerely  ask  pardon. 

I  am  no  pessimist,  but  the  opposite — yet  I  am  con- 
vinced after  a  long  life  of  careful  observation  and  un- 
usual experience,  that  the  prodigious  intestine  strain  upon 
humanity  may  manifest  itself  on  the  surface  of  political 
events  any  day — like  the  bursting  forth  of  Mont  Pele — in  a 
distant  island  of  the  great  archipelago  of  nations;  and 
that  the  long  impending  catastrophe  can  only  be  averted 
by  careful  observation  and  timely  action  in  the  domain 
of  religion,  which  is  to  humanity  what  the  atmosphere  is 
to  the  earth.  I  do  not  say,  or  mean,  the  domain  of  dogma, 
which  has,  however,  its  rightful  place  and  very  great  im- 
portance— as  have  observatories  and  light-houses.  This 
moral  atmosphere  which  encircles  our  globe  to-day  is 
like  an  overcharged  electric  belt  that  requires  but  a 
scintillation  of  diplomatic  friction  to  spread  rapine  and 
carnage  throughout  the  world.  The  lust  of  gold  and  the 
ambition  of  empire  are  the  main  driving  forces  in  this 
menacing  cataclysm,  but  they  are  human  forces — or  Sa- 
tanic, (for  we  believe  in  the  devil  whatever  form  or  in- 
fluence he  may  be)  ;  and  underlying  these  forces — as  the 
infinite  always  underlies  the  finite — is  the  major  force, 
and  ventually  the  higher  law  which  that  central  motor 
power  commands,  must  be  established  among  men.  It 
remains  for  this  generation  to  decide  whether  we  must 
return  again  to  the  old  Satanic  alliance  of  blood  between 
men  and  hell,  for  another  vain  attempt  to  subjugate  the 
children  of  God  into  permanent  sin;  or  after  twenty  cen- 
turies of  bootless,  hopeless  trial,  to  accept  the  Precious 
Blood  of  Christ  as  the  last  drop  shed  in  that  cruel  covenant 
of  killing,  for  the  inauguration  of  the  New  and  Bloodless 
Method  of  Love. 

Leaving  the  lesser  divisions,  we  here  place  ourselves 
before  the  two  most  powerful  standing  armies  on  the 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

earth;  and  they  are  the  most  powerful  because  they  are 
the  two  greatest  religious  bodies  existent.  We  do  not 
count  in  numbers,  but  in  moral  forces ;  and  their  greatness 
lies  neither  in  the  wealth  nor  empires  they  represent,  but 
in  their  common  indestructible  faith  in  their  Common 
Creator,  Universal  Ruler,  and  Divine  Father. 

On  one  side  of  these  two  formidable  armies,  is  divided 
Christendom,  armed  cap-a-pie  with  all  the  refinements  of 
science  and  modern  invention  for  human  slaughter;  on 
the  other  undivided  Islam,  for  the  most  part  miserably 
accoutered  w7ith  our  worn-out  matchlocks  and  broken 
swords.  Christendom  includes  about  four  hundred  mil- 
lion souls;  Islam  numbers  nearly  three  hundred  millions. 
Between  these  far-stretching  battalions  which  stand,  or 
rather  bivouac,  over  against  each  other,  there  lies  a  neu- 
tral zone,  with  fallow  green  fields;  and  there  sleeps  Israel 
—alas! — among  the  tombs  of  the  Prophets; — and  One 
in  the  midst  thereof  is  empty.  But  that  empty  tomb  of 
an  humble  Jew  is  the  center  of  the  world! 

While  the  great  Christian  powers  have  their  various 
conflicting  political  and  ecclesiastical  interests  to  vindi- 
cate, Islam  has  but  one,  and  that  is  universal  and  eternal : 
the  supremacy,  not  of  any  earthly  government — for  it 
is  bound  to  none — but  of  God. 

Diplomacy  can  do  but  little  to  bridge  the  chasm  which 
divides  these  millions  of  believers,  and  war  can  only  widen 
it  and  envenom  the  horrible  wound  in  the  great  heart  of 
humanity.  While  arms  are  at  rest  for  a  time,  or  an  armis- 
tice is  declared,  then  is  the  opportunity  to  prepare  for  per- 
manent peace.  Let  not  the  sentinels  sleep  on  the  watch- 
towers  ! 

When  engineers  would  bridge  over  an  abyss  which 
yawns  between  two  unequal  shores,  there  must  be  a  level- 
ing process  of  cutting  down  one  and  building  up  the 
other.  A  similar  operation  is  necessary  if  we  would 


4  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

bridge  the  gulf  between  Christianity  and  Islam.  And 
all  the  debris  and  scoria  should  be  cast  into  the  depths 
of  the  abyss  to  help  build  up  over  oblivion  the  grand  high- 
way of  human  happiness.  When  this  is  accomplished  and 
we  are  able  to  pass  over  freely  and  in  good  fellowship, 
we  shall  discover  that  if  Christianity  has  great  achieve- 
ments to  offer  to  Islam,  Islam  has  treasures  of  priceless 
worth  to  give  in  exchange. 

To  render  the  present  situation  more  complex,  the  two 
major  factors  of  civilization,  Religion  and  Science, — sub- 
lime converging  forces,  w7hich  are  being  brought  every 
day  into  closer  lines — as  they  approach  the  great  center  of 
all  truth,  are  still,  unfortunately,  self-supposed  enemies. 
Their  intrinsic  relations  must,  however,  sooner  or  later, 
lead  to  mutual  and  friendly  recognition;  and  then  Law, 
Order  and  Love  wrill  begin  their  normal  and  legitimate 
functions. 

We  have  a  sublime  case  in  hand  as  I  write  these  lines ; 
and  those  who  see  the  invisible  with  spiritual  eyes  and 
hear  with  spiritual  ears  the  unspoken  words  of  Science, 
cannot  fail  to  discern  the  voices  and  forms  of  Elohim  as 
they  move  over  the  boundless  seas  and  thro'  the  fathomless 
air,  carrying  messages  from  hemisphere  to  hemisphere 
by  wireless  telegraph! — Oh!  blind  and  deaf  scientists!  ye 
discern  not  the  sublime  achievements  of  your  own  hands ! 
—the  result  of  your  own  divine  inspiration! — the  proof 
of  your  own  scientific  deductions! — all  of  which  show 
forth  the  infinite  and  inexhaustible  treasures  and  possi- 
bilities of  the  Great  First  Cause,  which  is  Jehovah! — Be- 
hold within  yourselves  His  Glory! 

The  youth  Marconi,  like  a  greater  than  he,  was  not 
believed  in  by  his  own  people,  but  strangers  received  him. 
And  already  the  whole  world  acclaims  him !  Still,  He  who 
is  Divine  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  between  all 
Science  and  Religion,  they  will  not  yet  acclaim! 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

One  of  the  best  means  of  hastening  this  reconciliation 
between  seemingly  opposing  principles,  and  between  dif- 
ferent races  and  opposing  peoples,  is  friendly  inter- 
course, good  fellowship,  and  union  between  persons  of 
different  creeds  or  religious  beliefs,  as  well  as  between 
different  seekers  after  scientific  truths;  for  when  the  re- 
lations of  life  are  brought  into  the  domain  of  harmony 
and  conscience,  latent  forces  are  aroused,  hostile  ones 
are  attenuated,  and  generous  ones  are  assimilated.  And 
there  are  innumerable  souls  throughout  all  the  divisions 
of  society, — not  only  in  the  churches,  but  in  schools,  work- 
shops, and  laboratories,  in  fields  and  forests,  in  theaters 
and  parliaments;  some  are  fearless  and  active,  others  are 
timid  and  sometimes  discouraged,  but  laboring  still, 
hoping,  praying,  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  beneficent 
result — yearning  for  the  Ideal  in  the  Real,  and  for  the  In- 
finite in  Sorrow.  Who  is  there,  then,  within  the  pale 
of  recognized  Brotherhood  of  men,  and  has  a  heart  in  his 
breast,  that  does  not  cry  aloud  and  upward :  "Oh !  Eternal 
Father!  let  Thy  will  be  done!" 

How  important  and  rich  becomes  every  day  of  our 
lives  of  sojourn  or  travel,  of  work  or  repose,  if  we  keep 
in  mind  that  every  endeavor  to  help  a  fellow-creature 
every  prayer,  every  scientific  discovery,  and  above  all, 
every  determined  effort  for  purity  and  justice,  every  gen- 
erous action  toward  our  enemies,  aye!  every  trial  or  sor- 
row, are  preparing  the  way  for  the  ultimate  Kingdom  of 
God  on  earth — which  is  the  absolute  sequence  of  creation. 

*  *  * 

In  perusing  these  pages,  some  person  may  think  that 
I  abase  the  Christian  while  extolling  the  Mussulman. 
To  abase  is  wrong;  but  to  humble  the  proud  and  to  en- 
lighten the  ignorant,  in  high  places  as  in  low,  in  the  self- 
righteous  as  in  the  sinner,  is  to  render  service;  and  this 
sometimes  becomes  a  duty. 


6  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

It  also  may  be  said  that  in  our  travels  we  saw  only  the 
bright  side  of  Islam.  Well!  that  is  just  what  we  desired 
to  see;  not,  however,  ignoring  the  shadow — for  one  must 
be  blind  and  senseless  not  to  see  and  feel  that  in  the  solar 
system  which  we  inhabit,  physically  and  morally,  the 
stronger  the  light  the  deeper  the  shade.  From  the  burn- 
ing heat  of  a  fatiguing  day  we  may  seek  refreshing 
shadow;  but  for  accurate  observation,  give  us  the  broad 
full  sunlight! 

The  fact  of  it  is,  we  had  heard  quite  .enough  of  the 
dark  side  of  Islam,  so  we  determined  to  pursue  our  studies 
on  the  side  looking  to  the  sun. 

And  what  undreamt-of  beauty  and  wealth  God's  sun- 
shine reveals! 

Then  we  ask,  Is  it  fair?  Is  it  just?  Is  it  Christlike?— 
like  Him  of  whom,  as  it  is  narrated  in  Jewish  history, 
one  day  while  wandering  through  the  lanes  and  byways 
of  Jerusalem,  found  in  the  repugnant  decomposition  of 
a  dead  dog,  something  to  admire ;  and  turning  to  the  hoot- 
ing crowd  which  was  gathered  about  this  loathsome  ob- 
ject, remarked  in  His  own  sweet  way:  "At  least  it  has 
white  teeth." 

Is  it  right,  fair,  or  just,  to  visit  other  people  in  their 
homes,  or  in  their  countries,  wherever  they  dwell,  and 
come  away  to  decry  them  ? — our  brethren,  who  are  strug- 
gling into  higher  life, — holding  them  up  to  the  cruel  criti- 
cism, condemnation,  and  ridicule  of  those  who  have,  also, 
had  their  dark  ages  of  struggle  up  to  a  "higher  civili- 
sation," and  who  believe  themselves  admitted  (O,  preten- 
tious man!)  into  the  "more  perfect  knowledge  of  God!" 
— No!  it  is  not  right! 

Travel  is  incumbent  upon  all,  especially  upon  bene- 
factors, and  a  thorough  traveller  can,  perhaps,  do  more 
good  in  a  voyage,  if  he  knows  how  to  travel,  than  to  write 
a  book. 


INTRODUCTION.  / 

In  studying  the  monuments  and  institutions  of  strange 
countries,  we  visit,  not  only  churches,  cathedrals,  and 
palaces,  but  prisons  and  hospitals  as  well.  In  prisons  we 
have  only  to  know  that  there  are  prisoners  within  to  be 
assured  that  they  contain  law-breakers;  and  to  see  their 
chains,  to  understand  that  crime  has  been  committed.  Yet 
this  does  not  deter  us  from  conversing  with  these  crimi- 
nals; nor,  perhaps,  from  suggesting  to  jailors  some  mod- 
ern sanitary  measures  and  improvements  in  the  sad  prison 
life.  Then  it  is  possible  that  there  might  be  some  falsely 
accused  prisoners  therein,  and  a  word  of  heavenly  hope 
might  console  them  for  human  injustice. 

And  in  visiting  hospitals  we  do  not  ask  the  inmates  to 
uncover  their  wounds  and  sores  to  satisfy  a  morbid  and 
indecent  curiosity;  we  only  see  their  pale  faces,  clasp  their 
hands,  and  look  into  their  wistful  eyes — which  often  speak 
the  language  of  a  smothered  soul  when  lips  are  silent — to 
know  the  inmates  are  sick,  with  malady  or  sin,  and  to  feel 
that  they  are  our  kindred.  And  if  we  are  human  we  give 
them  what  we  can  of  sympathy,  prayer,  and  hope;  than 
which  there  is  no  greater  gift  for  the  sorrowful,  for  the 
sick,  or  for  the  sinner. 

We  did  not  go  to  Africa  and  Asia  on  a  hunting  ex- 
pedition in  quest  of  "big  game"  not  to  be  found  in  Europe : 
lions,  tigers,  elephants ;  neither  did  we  go  in  search  of  the 
"small  game,"  scorpions,  vipers,  and  other  foul  and  creep- 
ing things — which  we  have  in  abundance  at  home.  We 
went  seeking  our  fellow-men  whom  we  knew  not ;  new  and 
unlike  peoples,  of  gentle  manners  and  simple  faith;  with 
all  their  varied  environments:  blue  skies,  sunlight,  and 
fair  landscapes  in  far  horizons;  glorified  sunsets  and  re- 
splendent nights,  with  perfumed  atmosphere  and  ambient 
breezes;  looking  everywhere  for  new  manifestations  of 
nature's  beauty  and  God's  love;  and,  in  short,  all  sorts  of 
rare,  sweet,  and  beautiful  things !  Thank  Heaven !  which 


8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

guided  us,  we  found  not  only  what  we  sought,  but,  in 
spite  of  the  misguidance  of  men  and  the  ill-adjustment  of 
circumstances,  we  found  above  and  encompassing  all, 
everywhere — on  the  sea  and  on  the  land — the  ineffable 
joy  of  the  Infinite  Presence. 

*         *         * 

I  must  now  beg  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that,  though 
I  am  an  American  by  birth,  I  became,  by  my  marriage, 
a  French  citizen;  and  that  although,  as  a  Humanitarian 
believer,  I  take  a  paramount  interest  in  the  religion  of 
Islam  which  counts  nearly  three  hundred  millions  of  the 
firmest  monotheists  on  the  globe! — and  that  France  has 
thirty  million  Moslem  subjects  in  Africa  alone,  independ- 
ent of  her  large  possessions  in  the  extreme  Orient;  and 
that  there  is  united  with  my  profound  religious  interest 
a  bounden,  patriotic  duty,  which  must  not  be  ignored. 
As  to  my  English,  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  lived  outside 
of  it,  mostly,  for  more  than  forty  years. 

Sixty  years  -ago,  in  Chautauqua,  Western  New  York, 
Horace  Mann  laid  his  hand  upon  my  head  saying :  "Little 
girl,  the  Schoolmaster  tells  me  you  help  him  write  the 
copies  in  the  other  scholars'  copy  books;  that's  good,  go 
on,  do  your  best!" 

Fifty  years  ago,  over  a  breakfast  table  in  New  York 
City,  Horace  Greeley,  who  ate  only  bread  and  milk,  said 
to  me:  "Your  ideas  are  right  as  to  the  superiority  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  as  was  originally  intended  for  the 
sustenance  of  man,  over  animal  food; — only  go  on  and 
write  about  it!" 

Forty  years  ago  George  Bancroft  said  to  me:  "Your 
eyes  were  not  made  to  weep,  even  over  this  hell  let  loose 
in  our  country,*  but  to  guide  your  pen  against  slavery  and 
war  in  every  land!" 

Thirty  years  ago  Longfellow,  looking  from  my  win- 

*The  War  of  Secession. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

dow  at  Passy,  over  Paris,  said:  "But  take  care  that  this 
beautiful  city  and  la  belle  France,  with  her  innumerable 
attractions  and  her  struggles,  do  not  make  you  neglect 
your  own  country;  and  with  all  these  other  languages, 
forget  your  own  tongue!" 

I  disobeyed  them  all — having  been  called  of  Provi- 
dence to  an  active  part  in  the  initiation  of  a  great  religious 
and  social  reform,  with  its  manifold  duties  and  trials; 
and  now  that  I  am  old,  and  with  other  superabundant 
blessings,  have  leisure,  behold  my  humiliation! — which  is 
sine  qua  non  for  canonic  confession! 

*         *         * 

By  my  impressions  of  these  travels  in  Oriental  lands, 
I  may  be  suspected  of  unusual  sympathy  for  Mussulmans ; 
but  there  is  no  place  for  suspicion  when  the  fact  is  evident ; 
and  as  "an  honest  confession  is  good  for  the  soul,"  and 
sometimes  for  the  confessor  as  well  as  the  penitent,  I 
will  say  that  I  am  certainly  very  sympathetic  for  the  grand 
indomitable  Arab  race,  and  for  the  sublime,  unswerving 
faith  of  Islam.  Was  not  Abraham  the  father  of  Ismael, 
as  well  as  Jacob?  Furthermore,  (for  in  valid  confession 
there  must  be  no  "mental  reservation"  or  covert  "inten- 
tion,") I  will  state  that  I  am  also  very  sympathetic  for 
the  believers  in  the  farther  East :  the  Hindus,  who,  though 
they  have  not  a  positive  conception  of  the  Living  God, 
are  less  than  all  others  given  to  persecution  because  of 
religious  dissimilarities,  and  make  for  peace  on  earth 
more  than  do  those  of  other  great  religions.  Moreover, 
I  love  the  Jews — and  with  peculiar  affection ;  for  they  are 
of  the.  Ancient  Race  of  Believers,  chosen  of  God,  and 
have  written  for  us  the  grandest  Sacred  History  of  Hu- 
manity; and  above  all  they  have  given  us  the  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world!  In  short,  I  am  an  orthodox  Chris- 
tian; and  because  I  am  a  Christian,  I  am  bound  by  my 
faith  to  seek  and  help,  persuade,  and  love  those  who  are 


IO  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

sick,  ignorant,  unhappy,  or  perverse,  of  whatever  belief, 
or  unbelief,  they  may  be;  and  I  am  particularly  solicitous 
for  the  "miserable  sinners"  of  our  own  "persuasion"  and 
of  my  own  infernally  proud  race!  (I  use  here  the  tech- 
nical theological  term.) 

Yet,  my  sympathy  for  Islam  does  not  prevent  me  from 
deploring  their  polygamy,  their  lack  of  energy,  and  the 
unwarranted  seclusion  of  their  women.  Nor  does  my 
consideration  for  the  Hindus  prevent  my  disgust  for  their 
filthy  fakirs  and  their  obscene  symbolism.  Nor  does  my 
affection  for  the  Jews  assuage  my  ever-increasing  sorrow 
for  their  unrighteous  refusal  of  rehabilitation  to  the  Great 
Jew — Jesus — that  which  the  Christian  world  most  justly 
claims  to-day  for  a  lesser  Jew — Dreyfus. 

And  it  is  because  I,  the  most  unworthy  of  His  fol- 
lowers, love  Christianity  above  all  other  religions,  that  I 
am  not  blind  or  indifferent  to  the  sins  and  vices  to  which 
Christians  are  given  so  often,  in  flagrant  negation  of  their 
faith !  It  is  because  they  are  of  my  own  household,  that  I 
sometimes  feel  prompted  to  a  righteous  flagellation  of 
those  who  barter  and  sell,  (when  they  do  not  steal,)  not 
animals  in  shambles,  but  men  in  sorrow,  and  peoples  in 
peril;  covertly  or  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  great 
Temple  of  International  Diplomacy. 

Thus,  dear  readers,  I  have  made  my  confession,  and  I 
start  with  you  on  these  travels  with  a  clear  conscience. 

EMILIE  HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TO  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

WE  started  on  our  pilgrimage  at  9  o'clock,  on  a 
dreary  night  in  December,  1894;  and  as  the  train 
rolled  reluctantly  out  of  the  station  in  Paris,  there  ap- 
peared in  the  weird  electric  light,  a  group  of  loving,  lugu- 
brious faces,  haloed  by  a  cloud  of  white  waving  hands 
through  a  sheen  of  drizzling  rain,  accompanied  by  a  di- 
minishing chorus  of  "Bon  voyage!"-  -"Good-bye  !"- 
"Adieu!"— "Bon  retotir!"—"God  bless  you?'—Au  re- 
voir!"—"A  bientot!" 

Though  propped  up  in  a  comfortable  corner,  like  an 
invalid,  I  was,  however,  able  to  lean  from  the  car  window 
as  we  passed  through  the  fortifications  into  the  open  coun- 
try, and  sing  out  into  the  darkness  the  closing  strains  of 
Dr.  Monk's  great  anthem :  "JE-RU-SA-LEM ....!" 

We  were  rolling  far  into  the  night  when  a  dear  face 
bent  over  me  and  a  low  voice  asked:  "Why  do  you  not 
sleep?" 

I  could  only  reply:  "I  am  too  happy!" 

The  next  day  at  noon  we  stood  in  the  bright  sunlight, 
beneath  a  cerulean  sky,  in  the  bow  of  the  fine  Transatlan- 
tique  ship  which  cut  the  blue  waters  of  the  fair  Inter- 
mediate Sea  as  with  sentient  joy  at  having  her  entire 
cargo  of  gratitude  concentrated  in  one  soul — sailing  from 
Marseilles  to  the  Barbary  coast. 

I  had  long  ardently  wished  to  visit  North  Africa,  but 


12  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

all  plans  and  projects  failed  until  kind  Providence  under- 
took the  matter  for  me,  and  I  succeeded.  But  for  this  I 
must  needs  fall  ill  and  be  sent  to  a  warm  climate  for  rest 
and  recuperation.  But  now  arose  a  formidable  difficulty; 
for  in  my  pertinacious  idea  of  reconciling  the  races,  and 
particularly  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Latin,  I  had  always 
managed  to  have  both  an  English  and  a  French  Doctor 
(albeit  I  take  less  medicine  than  kindly  council — giving 
the  same...) — and  now  they  disagreed;  one  saying  I 
should  by  all  means  go  to  Algiers,  and  the  other — that  it 
was  not  to  be  thought  of,  because  of  the  sea,  heart  trouble, 
etc.,  etc.  I  exonerated  both  from  all  responsibility,  and 
being  still  able  to  disobey,  I  took  my  heart  in  my  own 
hands,  as  it  leaped  with  joy  at  the  possibility  of  going  to 
Africa,  and  put  myself  with  perfect  obedience  into  the 
hands  of  The  Other — The  Great  Physician,  whose  diag- 
nosis is  true,  and  whose  remedies  infallible;  and  who, 
moreover,  always  accompanies  His  patients!  I  had  left 
home  scarcely  able  to  walk,  suffering  from  nervous  pros- 
tration, the  effect  of  a  quarter  of  a  century's  overwork 
in  a  hard  but  glorious  field;  but  from  the  sheer  prospect 
of  going,  I  was  almost  cured  before  I  started!  Travel 
is  the  panacea  for  many  maladies,  and  there  is  no  cure 
more  agreeable  and,  ordinarily,  (intelligence  and  purpose 
being  equal,)  none  more  sure  than  doing  what  one  longs 
to  do. 

We  arrived  in  Algiers  twenty-four  hours  after  sailing, 
having  already,  while  still  far  out  at  sea,  scented  the 
perfume  of  the  orange  blossoms  and  eucalyptus. 

On  entering  the  house  of  any  one,  be  he  friend  or 
stranger,  we  must  at  once  seek  the  face  of  our  host:  we 
went,  therefore,  first  of  all,  into  the  great  public  square, 
La  Place  du  Gouvernement,  which  is  the  rendezvous  not 
only  of  the  native  inhabitants  but  of  the  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  view  of  the 


TO  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM.  13 

physiognomy  of  the  city.  Arabs  predominate,  and,  in 
their  flowing  white  costumes  of  burnouse  and  turban, 
and  with  their  quiet  good  manners,  we  were  captivated 
at  the  outset. 

This  beautiful  square  looks  north  to  the  sea,  over  the 
magnificent  harbor  whose  shipping,  with  its  multicolored 
flags  and  pennons,  indicates  the  extent  of  its  commerce 
and  attractions.  On  one  side  stands  the  great  white 
Mosque,  which,  strange  to  say,  is  built  in  the  form  of  the 
Latin  cross. 

"Let  us  go  in,"  we  said  and  entered  without  difficulty, 
permission,  or  surprise  to  any  one.  It  was  not  the  regular 
hour  of  prayer,  but  there  were,  however,  many  wor- 
shippers, kneeling  or  prostrate  in  the  vast  white  edifice, 
dim  and  silent.  We,  too,  knelt  and  offered  up  thanks  to 
their  Allah,  which  is  our  God,  for  his  loving-kindness  in, 
bringing  us  hither.  Then,  standing  aloof,  we  observed 
that  all  who  came  in  with  shoes  and  sandals  removed  them, 
and  those  of  the  humbler  sort,  shodden  by  nature,  first 
went  to  the  fountain,  which  is  just  inside  the  door  at  the' 
bottom  of  the  nave,  and  observed  the  ceremonial  ablution, 
bathing  face,  hands  and  feet,  before  stepping  upon  the 
carpet  which  covers  the  entire  floor  save  the  parvis,  where 
strangers  stand.  Many,  also,  washed  the  entire  head, 
giving  conscientious  care  to  the  mouth, — for,  with  Mos- 
lems, the  lips  which  praise  Jehovah  must  be  clean.  The 
fine  large  fountain  was  well  adapted,  with  sparkling  water 
in  jets,  and  a  vast  circular  basin,  for  this  religious  rite, 
which  was  accomplished  with  all  modesty  and  entire  ob- 
liviousness  of  any  lookers-on.  Then  we  noticed  that  amid 
those  clad  in  soft  raiment  there  were  many  more  clothed 
in  such  a  manner  as  would  have  excluded  them  from 
almost  any  Christian  church.  (  !)  Some  were  in  rags  and 
others  in  coffee  sacks;  but  withal,  there  were  no  "upper," 
"front,"  or  "back  seats,"  and  all  took  places  as  they  chose 


14  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

—beside  each  other  in  brotherly  proximity  and  attitude. 
No  women  were  present.  Soon  thereafter,  outside,  from 
the  high  white  minaret,  the  voice  of  the  muezzin  was 
heard,  clear  and  melodious,  out  over  the  city  and  over  the 
sea,  calling  for  prayer.  The  mosque  was  quietly  but  rap- 
idly filled  with  a  white  cloud  of  worshippers,  all  serious 
and  respectful.  No  talking,  nor  whispering,  nor  wander- 
ing eyes, — for  the  first  essential  of  a  Moslem's  prayer  is 
absolute  concentration  of  mind  and  will  upon  Him  to 
whom  all  honor  and  worship  is  due. 

The  service  is  liturgic,  and  with  the  low,  monotone 
Arabic  rhythm,  it  is  very  impressive.  However,  no  book 
is  used,  or  necessary,  as  all  services,  as  well  as  all  doctrine 
and  discipline,  are  contained  in  the  Koran ;  and  this,  which 
is  their  Bible,  is  committed  to  memory  from  the  earliest 
childhood;  and,  as  their  memory  is  prodigious,  they  are 
never  at  a  loss  for  prayer-book  or  scriptural  text.  But, 
to  show  that  all  religious  service  is  from  this  infallible 
source,  while  reciting  it,  they  hold  up  their  two  open  hands 
before  their  faces  to  represent  their  open  and  sacred  book. 
There  is  a  large  niche  in  the  eastern  wall,  looking  toward 
Mecca,  from  which  the  Koran  is  read  or  recited;  and 
near  the  middle  of  the  mosque  is  a  large,  high  pulpit,  re- 
sembling a  platform,  upon  open  pillars  upon  which  a  score 
of  "ancients"  may  sit,  and  beneath  which  young  children 
are  sometimes  placed.  Though  Arabic  is  an  unknown 
tongue,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  serious  and 
religious  eloquence  of  the  sermon.  I  was  the  only  woman 
present,  yet  not  a  look  of  reproach  or  surprise,  nor  curios- 
ity was  given  me,  but  instead,  I  felt  a  silent  and  comforting 
assurance  of  religious  sympathy  and  fraternal  welcome 
among  this  strange  people. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IN   THE   HOME  OF  ISLAM. 

IT  was  easy  to  get  into  the  mosque,  but  how  to  get  into 
the  home  and  above  all  into  the  heart  of  Islam  was 
quite  another  thing,  and  far  more  difficult.  We  had  let- 
ters to  persons  of  almost  every  shade  of  Christian  belief 
and  unbelief;  and  upon  our  arrival  in  Algiers  we  con- 
sulted pastors,  colonists,  doctors,  lawyers,  professors, 
governmental  functionaries,  tradesmen,  agriculturists, 
etc.,  and  met  everywhere  the  same  discouragement,  ex- 
pressed almost  always  in  the  same  terms:  "There  is 
nothing  to  be  done  with  the  Mussulmans;  but  one  thing 
is  necessary,  let  them  feel  your  superiority."  This  led  us 
to  conclude  that  there  was  then  some  claim  on  their  part, 
and  perhaps  a  danger ;  certainly  there  was  an  inner  ques- 
tion, and  we  determined  to  look  into  it. 

The  Protestant  pastors  of  different  denominations 
spoke  to  us  in  this  wise :  "We  have  been  here  from  one  to 
forty  years,  and  have  never  made  a  single  conversion  nor 
a  friend  among  the  native  population,  nor  have  we  ever 
had  anything  to  do  with  them  save  in  a  small  business 
way,  or  as  servants.  They  are,  to  a  man,  fortified  in  their 
religion,  their  fatalism  is  a  wall  of  adamant,  and  they  will 
neither  step  out,  nor  accept  anything  outside  of  that 
stronghold.  They  are,  however,  sober,  patient  and  re- 
spectful,— as  honest,  perhaps,  as  Christians,  and  possess 
a  keen  sense  of  justice;  not  over-laborious,  but  accept, 


1 6  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

without  bartering,  very  small  profits  or  hire.  They  are 
serviceable  but  not  servile,  feeling  themselves  on  perfect 
equality,  not  only  among  themselves,  but  with  all  other 
men.  To  be  frank  with  you,  you  will  have  your  pains 
for  naught  if  you  hope  to  make  friends  with  them;  for 
you,  perfect  strangers,  cannot  expect  to  do  in  a  few  months 
what  we  have  failed  to  do  in  a  score  or  two  of  years; 
and,  to  tell  you  all  the  truth,  Mussulmans  do  not  like  us 
and  have  really  little  confidence  in  Christians." 

Then  \ve  asked :  "Have  you  ever  tried  to  make  friends 
with  them  without  any  attempt  at  proselyting?" 

"No,  never,  for  wre  knew  beforehand  that  it  was  per- 
fectly useless." 

Of  course  we  could  not  accept  such  sophistic  argument 
for  fair  reasoning,  much  less  for  proof,  but  were  more 
convinced  than  before  that  there  were,  at  least,  rich  fields 
here  for  observation  and  study;  and  we  were  more  de- 
termined than  ever  to  push  forward  into  the  undiscovered 
realms  of  Moslem  faith  and  life,  which  gave  such  indu- 
bitable proof  of  resistance  to  attacks  or  innovations,  and 
so  many  evidences  of  vitality  and  virtue. 

We  ventured  occasionally,  with  our  Protestant  friends, 
some  arguments:  human,  historical,  and  ethnological,  as 
well  as  Christian.  We  invariably  encountered,  however, 
a  sectarian  barrier  w^hich,  if  not  so  magnificent  as  that  of 
the  Moslems',  was  every  whit  as  adamantine.  Happily 
it  was  usually  so  narrow  and  low  that  we  could  step  over 
it  without  difficulty. 

We  soon  found,  however,  an  ice-field  forming  about 
us  in  the  sectarian  latitude:  Roman  Catholic  and  Protes- 
tant. We  were  looked  upon  somewhat  as  spiritual  ad- 
venturers and  interlopers  by  the  "squatter  sovereignty," 
who  claimed  not  only  territorial  preemption,  but  Divine 
Right  in  their  desert  and  sterile  fields;  and,  moreover, 
our  sympathy  with  the  conquered  race  of  Algeria  was 


IX   THE  HOME  OF  ISLAM.  I/ 

looked  upon  by  some  as  disloyalty  to  the  mcrc-patrie. 

We  had,  therefore,  in  the  beginning  but  little  appro- 
bation or  sympathy  to  encourage  us ;  and  I  regret  to  say 
that  means,  which  did  no  honor  to  those  who  employed 
them,  were  used  by  some  to  dissuade  and  prevent  us  in 
our  research  and  endeavors.  Our  letters  were  tampered 
with  after  their  delivery  before  they  reached  us,_  our 
rooms  invaded,  and  private  papers  filched  from  our  port- 
folios. Misrepresentation  and  calumny  were  considered 
virtuous  arms  for  underhanded  attacks  by  some  who  pre- 
tended to  give  tone  to  the  ''best  society"  in  this  new  colony. 
Our  position  was  such  that  we  had  an  inside  view  of  the 
situation,  and,  with  growing  financial  jealousies,  polit- 
ical animosities,  and  racial  antagonism,  we  could  not  but 
fear  trouble  in  the  near  future.  The  wrorld  knows  of  the 
deplorable  anti-Semitic  and  political  riots  a  year  after- 
wards. Happily  the  Moslems  most  wisely  abstained  from 
taking  any  considerable  part. 

In  justice  I  must  say  here  that,  in  our  studies  and 
efforts  for  reconciliation  of  parties  and  races,  we  found 
warm  sympathy  and  complete  approbation  among  the 
true  representatives  of  France  and  Algeria :  eminent  men, 
of  whom  I  may  mention  the  Governor,  Monsieur  Cambon, 
whose  intelligence  and  broad  humanitarian  sympathies 
enabled  him  to  understand  the  situation  and  appreciate 
our  endeavors.  He  was  president  of  the  committee 
formed  in  France  about  this  time  for  building  a  mosque 
in  Paris  for  our  Moslem  subjects  and  those  of  other  lands 
who  live  in  or  visit  that  city. 

But,  at  the  outset,  we  knew  no  follower  of  Mohammed, 
nor  any  one  through  whom  we  could  know  one.  As  far 
as  human  help  goes,  we  were  evidently  in  the  minority; 
but  being  greatly  encouraged  by  all  this  discouragement,, 
we  decided  to  put  ourselves,  and  without  intermediary, 
into  the  hands  of  the  Omnipotent  Majority  of  One,  and 


l8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

go  forward.  Later  on,  when  success  was  evident,  sym- 
pathizers multiplied  on  every  hand.  Such  is  human  na- 
ture everywhere  under  the  sun. 

On  the  ninth  of  January,  1895,  an  almost  summer-like 
winter  day,  with  roses  and  oranges  in  the  garden,  sweet 
odors  in  the  air,  the  deep  blue,  encouraging  sky  bend- 
ing over  the  beautiful  earth  and  the  far-stretching  sea, 
we  came  down  from  Mustapha  Superieur,  where  we 
dwelt,  into  the  highways  and  byways  of  the  strange  white 
city,  amid  the  still  stranger  heterogeneous  mass  of  hu- 
manity— to  seek  the  heart  of  Islam. 

For  the  first  time  in  many  months  I  felt  strong  enough 
to  walk ;  and  with  a  deep  sense  of  gratitude  came  a  strong 
conviction  that  there  was  a  blessing  in  store  for  us.  Hour 
after  hour  we  sauntered  through  the  maze  of  the  old 
Moorish  city,  looking  for  him  who  was  to  open  the  door 
of  the  inner  life  of  this  mysterious  people.  The  hours 
wore  away,  and  with  them  our  strength,  and  my  hus- 
band suggested  postponing  our  search  for  another  time; 
but  I  insisted  that  he  would  be  found  that  day — and,  turn- 
ing down  the  covered  passage  of  the  great  bazaar  that 
leads  from  the  Place  de  la  Cathedrale  to  the  Place  du 
Gouvernement,  there  he  sat  in  the  entrance  of  his  tent! 
And  it  was  gorgeous,  his  booth,  which  was  made  of  the 
multicolored  hangings  of  Oriental  carpets  and  curtains. 

"Abraham!"  I  exclaimed  in  exultation.  It  was  in- 
deed a  magnificent  life-picture:  head,  form,  and  features 
of  noble  mold,  a  long  beard  of  snow,  turban  of  white  and 
gold,  with  full  flowing  costume,  all  revealing  a  noble 
specimen  of  the  pure  Arab  race.  He  sat  half-turned  from 
the  outer  world,  intent  upon  a  large  volume  he  was  read- 
ing, and  which,  by  its  beautiful  print  and  rich  binding, 
we  knew  to  be  the  Koran.  We  stopped  with  intense  satis- 
faction and  admiration  to  contemplate  the  picture,  and 
also  with  reluctance  to  disturb  his  pious  study.  He 


IN  THE  HOME  OF  ISLAM.  IQ 

seemed  to  feel  our  presence,  and  turning  toward  us,  gave 
us,  in  excellent  French,  a  kind  welcome,  benevolently  ask- 
ing if  he  could  be  of  any  service  to  us. 

"We  have  not  come  to  purchase,"  we  explained,  "but 
should  like  to  talk  with  you  if  you  would  allow  us." 

Immediately  we  were  led  into  his  fine  large  booth, 
which  was  something  between  a  richly  furnished  draw- 
ing-room and  a  museum  of  art.  As  soon  as  we  were 
seated,  he  said:  '"Pray,  consider  yourselves  perfectly  at 
home,  and  give  me  the  pleasure  of  being  useful  to  stran- 
gers whom  God  has  sent  me." 

Without  circumlocution  we  replied:  "You  have  many 
rich  and  beautiful  wares  here,  but  what  is  the  best  of  all 
and  interests  us  most  is  the  book  you  are  reading;  and  we 
should  like  to  talk  with  you  concerning  your  religion. 
We  are  Christians  who  come  from  far  countries  to  study 
the  faith  and  people  of  Islam." 

A  luminous  expression  of  pleasure  passed  over  his 
placid  face,  with  just  a  little  surprise.  The  Arab  rarely 
betrays  the  least  astonishment,  for  he  who  is  ever  wait- 
ing Eternity  is  never  taken  by  surprise  in  human  events. 

Here  Pere  Hyacinthe  took  from  his  pocket  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Koran.  Immediately  our  host  inclined  and 
lifted  his  right  hand  to  his  forehead,  and  then  to  his 
heart,  which  is  the  Moslem  sign  of  respect  and  reverence, 
saying  again:  "I  am  most  happy!  May  God  be  praised 
for  sending  you  to  my  door!" 

Then  he  clapped  his  hands  and  a  servant  appeared, 
who,  in  a  few  moments,  brought  us  our  first  cup  of  deli- 
cious Turkish  coffee.  Thus  we  were  duly  accredited 
guests.  We  conversed  for  an  hour  with  this  follower  of 
Mohammed  and  found  him  not  only  stored  in  Arabic 
learning  concerning  Islam  and  the  Koran,  but  perfectly 
conversant  with  the  Ancient  Scriptures,  which  are  theirs 
as  well  as  ours.  Nor  was  he  ignorant  of  the  New  Testa- 


2O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

ment;  above  all  we  found  a  devout  believer  in  the  Living 
God.  We  expressed  the  desire  to  know  more  of  this 
grand  religion  and  asked  concerning  its  representatives 
in  Algiers.  He  immediately  said:  ''You  must  go  to  the 
mosque  in  the  Kasbah  and  see  the  Marabout!"  There- 
upon he  at  once  wrote  in  French  the  name  and  full  direc- 
tions upon  his  card,  saying:  "Go  when  you  like,  this 
learned  and  holy  man  will  give  you  welcome/' 

Then  we  took  leave,  exchanging  cards.   Upon  his  was 
printed :  "Ibrahim  Ben-Ali,  Member  of  the  Mohammedan 
Cult  Committee,  and  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce"-— He 
was  indeed  called  "Abraham."    We  came  as  strangers— 
we. parted  as  friends. 

The  next  day  we  went  up  through  the  beautiful  gar- 
den of  Morengo  to  the  Kasbah,  which  is  the  old,  high 
Moorish  part  of  the  city,  on  the  brow  of  which,  with  a 
superb  outlook  over  the  sea,  we  found  the  Mosque  of  Sidi- 
Abderrahman,  which  contains  the  tomb  of  the  great  Ma- 
rabout (saint)  of  that  name,  and  is  renowned  throughout 
Islam  as  the  most  holy  place  in  North  Africa — a  hallowed 
shrine  for  pilgrims  from  near  and  far.  The  venerable 
guardian  is  Sidi  Ali-ben-Hadj-Moussa,  a  very  devout 
Imam  (teacher),  and  the  most  learned  Sheik  in  Scrip- 
tural lore  in  all  that  country,  and,  besides,  is  considered 
a  saint. 

His  son,  a  young  man  of  eighteen  years,  had  come, 
as  we  were  evidently  expected,  to  meet  us  down  the  street 
and  conducted  us  into  the  Mosque,  in  the  middle  of  which 
is  the  tomb,  the  shrine  of  the  great  Marabout.  But  be- 
fore entering  he  stooped  and  put  on  our  feet  the  protecting 
sandals,  as  no  grain  of  dust  may  enter  this  holy  place. 
The  Mosque  is  not  large  and  appears  like  a  museum,  so 
full  is  it  with  gifts  of  pilgrims  and  friends :  many  tall 
clocks,  large  waxen  tapers,  banners,  etc.  The  floor  is 
covered  with  thick,  rich  rugs,  and  close  around  the  shrine 


IN  THE  HOME  OF  ISLAM.  21 

sat,  or  kneeled,  many  women,  enveloped  in  their  white, 
ample  robes — the  eyes  only  visible.  A  young  reader  of 
the  Koran  was  reciting  from  memory  the  Holy  Book. 
After  due  reverence  paid  to  the  sacred  place,  our  amiable 
young  escort,  (who  was  a  theological  student  preparing 
to  become  an  Imam  and  Sheik,  following  the  vocation 
and  perhaps  the  position  of  his  father,)  led  us  through  the 
old  cemetery  and  the  garden  which  surrounds  the  Mosque 
to  the  residence  of  the  Marabout. 

There  he  stood,  in  the  white  arched  doorway,  waiting 
to  receive  us,  the  venerable  patriarch,  clad  in  snow-white 
robe,  turban,  and  even  his  unshodden  feet,  with  full  white 
beard  beneath  a  pale  face — a  truly  white  saint !  So  strik- 
ing and  radiant  was  he,  that  the  vision  of  the  great  Law- 
Giver,  as  he  came  down  from  out  the  cloud  of  Sinai, 
flashed  through  my  mind  and  I  involuntarily  exclaimed: 
"Moses!"  The  son  understood  me  and  smiled,  as  that 
was  really  his  name, — in  Arabic :  Moussa. 

We  were  given  patriarchal  welcome  with  low  salaams, 
pressing  hands,  and  reiterated  thanks  to  Allah  for  bring- 
ing us  to  his  door ;  and  then  we  were  led  within,  across 
the  Moorish  court,  along  corridors,  and  up  a  very  steep 
staircase,  with  curious  unequal  steps,  into  the  parlor,  a 
long,  high  room,  its  walls,  ceiling,  and  curtains  all  white 
and  immaculate.  There  were  divans,  rugs,  and  cushions 
of  all  dimensions  and  colors,  with  stacks  of  old  books; 
at  the  end  of  the  room  a  high  bed,  scarcely  seen  through 
the  thick  white  embroidered  curtains.  Against  the  walls 
religious  objects  were  hung,  and  amid  it  all  the  sweet 
odor  of  incense  from  Araby  the  Blest. 

There  was  but  one  chair,  and  in  spite  of  all  protest, 
I  was  obliged  to  accept  the  honor;  our  host  and  my  hus- 
band having  seats  on  the  equally  comfortable  divan. 

With  two  excellent  interpreters,  a  young  theological 
student  and  an  elder  son, — for  the  Marabout  spoke  only 


22  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Arabic — we  speedily  fell  into  our  subject:  the  religion  of 
Mohammed.  Our  satisfaction  was  great  at  having  such 
a  rare  opportunity  of  going  to  the  source  of  Moslem 
knowledge  and  truth  without  the  doubtful  medium  of 
books  and  newspapers,  to  say  nothing  of  traditional  er- 
rors and  ignorance.  But  I  must  state  that  refreshments 
were  brought  in  at  once — sweet  things,  and  tea  perfumed 
with  orange  blossoms — deftly  served  by  the  sons,  who, 
with  their  father,  refused  to  partake  in  our  presence, 
saying,  with  their  right  hands  carried  from  heart  to  brow, 
"We  are  your  servants."  Such  is  Oriental  hospitality.* 

I  will  give  a  resume  of  the  two  hours'  conversation. 
In  reply  to  the  leading  question  made  by  Pere  Hyacinthe : 
"What  is  the  exact  place,  position,  and  importance  given 
to  Christ  by  the  followers  of  the  Prophet,  or  rather  by 
Mohammed  himself?" 

The  venerable  Marabout,  resting  his  white-bearded 
chin  for  a  few  moments  in  his  hand  in  religious  reflection, 
spoke  to  his  eldest  son,  who  immediately  handed  him  the 
Koran  in  the  original  Arabic  and  its  translation  by  Kasi- 
merski — the  best  French.  Then,  with  a  solemn  invocation 
to  Allah,  weighing  every  word,  said:  "I  do  not  only  re-- 
ply to'  this  important  question  to  you  who  are  a  true  ser  • 
vant  of  God;  but  I  must  now  speak  as  before  the  Judg- 
ment." 

Then  he  began :  "We  know  to  a  certainty  that  Christ 
was  fortold  by  our  Prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  which 
is  your  Holy  Scriptures  as  well  as  ours.  This  is  indisput- 
able; so  we  will  begin  by  the  birth  of  the  Messiah,  for 
whom  all  Israel  was  looking,  I  can  only  give  you  the 
exact  words  of  the  Koran,  written  by  Mohammed  who 
was  the  inspired  Prophet  of  God." 

*We  justly  call  everything  in  Islam  "Oriental,"  even  though  we  speak 
of  Sundown  regions;  the  religious  sentiment  having  greater  signification 
than  latitudes  or  points  of  compass. 


IN  THE  HOME  OF  ISLAM.  23 

I  quote  textually  from  the  translation  which  he  placed 
before  our  eyes,  while  he  repeated  the  original  to  the  in- 
terpreters, who  also  translated  directly  from  the  Arabic 
text,  both  agreeing. 

"The  angels  said  to  Mary,  'God  has  chosen  thee,  He 
has  rendered  thee  stainless,  He  has  elected  thee  among 
all  women  of  the  universe/ "(Koran,  3:  37.) 

"One  day  the  angels  said  to  Mary,  'God  announces  to 
thee  His  Word;  He  shall  be  called  the  Messiah,  Jesus, 
son  of  Mary ;  and  He  shall  be  illustrious  in  this  world  and 
in  the  other,  and  shall  walk  with  God/  '  (Koran,  3:  40.) 

"The  Messiah,  Jesus,  son  of  Mary,  is  the  Apostle  of 
God,  and  His  Word  that  He  sent  in  unto  Mary  is  a  Spirit 
coming  from  God."  (Koran,  14:  169.) 

After  this  careful  reading  and  conscientious  transla- 
tion, he  continued:  "We  believe  it  is  impossible  that  the 
Eternal  Jehovah,  who  is  a  perfect  Spirit,  and  above  all 
human  laws,  should  have  a  son  born  of  flesh  and  blood; 
therefore  we  do  not  call  him  the  'Son  of  God.' 

"To  think  him  God  is  a  monstrous  error  and  only  ex- 
cusable by  false  teaching  and  ignorance.  This  assertion 
is  an  absolute  negation  of  the  first  and  fundamental  com- 
mandment of  the  Creator :  'Thou  shalt  have  no  other  god 
before  me.'  If  you  will  study  the  New  Testament  care- 
fully, as  I  do,  you  will  find  that  the  Lord  Jesus  never 
arrogated  to  himself  this  august  name.  There  is  but 
One,  Only  and  True  God,  and  Him  only  can  we  worship 
without  falling  into  the  unpardonable  sin  of  idolatry.  To 
keep  clear  of  this  great  sin,  we  cannot  call  him  even 
the  Son  of  God,  but  something  more  true:  'Essence  or 
Substance  of  the  Soul  of  God.' ' 

After  this  there  was  a  prolonged  silence.  Then  Pere 
Hyacinthe  explained  to  this  venerable  seer  the  Christian 
interpretation  of  the  Trinity.  He  replied,  shaking  his 
head  solemnly:  "Ah,  that  is  too  complicated  for  the  Ori- 


24  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

ental  mind;  we  have  only  what  we  need,  the  simple  truth, 
expressed  in  direct  and  simple  terms;  and  then  that  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  is  not  of  the  Gospels — it  was  framed 
by  the  Church  in  those  councils  when  the  spirit  of  Christ 
was  already  diminishing  or  giving  way  to  forms."  Then 
he  said,  turning  to  me:  "You  have  a  branch  of  true  be- 
lievers in  America  who  think  as  we  do/'  He  referred  to 
the  followers  of  Channing,  the  great  New  England  body 
of  Unitarian  Christians;  and  if  they  are  Christians — and 
we  believe  they  are — Islam  is  certainly  a  branch  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  these  quotations  from  the  written  law  of  the 
Koran  plainly  prove.  Moslems  may  not  be  orthodox,  ac- 
cording to  our  ideas,  but  we  are  certainly  heterodox,  ac- 
cording to  theirs! 

In  taking  our  departure  after  two  hours  of  intense 
interest — time  does  not  count  and  visits  are  long  in  the 
Orient — the  patriarchal  teacher  said  to  Pere  Hyacinthe: 
"God  has  sent  you  to  us,  and  I  shall  thank  Him  all  my 
life!  And  what  makes  me  rejoice  above  all  is  that  you 
do  not  seek  to  impose  your  interpretations  of  divine  truth 
upon  us,  any  more  than  we  do  upon  you.  We  each  see 
as  we  have  been  taught,  and  God,  in  the  great  Judgment 
will  judge  us ;  we  can  trust  Him.  We  have  the  same  fun- 
damental faith,  the  Living  and  Personal  God,  and  we 
have  the  same  father,  Adam;  the  same  Prophets  and 
Patriarchs,  and  the  same  Messiah,  which  is  Jesus,  whom 
you  call  the  Son  of  God,  sent  by  miracle,  to  be  born  of  the 
Holy  Virgin ;  and  we  believe  in  the  Final  Judgment,  with 
its  rewards  and  punishments.  And  in  this  "life  we  be- 
lieve in  the  same  loving  and  merciful  God,  whom  we  do 
not  call  Father,  though  he  is  the  Creator  of  us  all,  for 
that  seems  a  too  earthly  name  and  presumptuous  in  us." 

"And,  therefore,"  rejoined  Pere  Hyacinthe,  as  we 
rose  to  take  leave,  "we  are  brethren!" 

"Oh  yes!  from  to-day  we  are  true  brothers!  thanks 


IN  THE  HOME  OF  ISLAM.  25 

to  the  Wise  and  Merciful  Allah !"  exclaimed  the  holy 
Imam,  falling  on  the  neck  of  Pere  Hyacinthe,  embracing 
him,  and  then  aspersing  us  with  the  attar  of  roses  as  we 
passed  from  his  door.  He  accompanied  us  to  his  "study," 
a  cell  of  very  small  dimensions,  adjoining  the  mosque, 
and  where,  to  prepare  his  sermons  and  writings,  he  with- 
draws from  the  world.  It  contained  many  old  books _and 
parchments,  and  some  of  more  modern  times.  His  writ- 
ing desk  wras  about  ten  inches  high,  and  his  "easy  chair" 
and  bed  ( for  he  often  passes  the  night  there  in  prayer  and 
meditation)  were  only  a  sheepskin  and  a  pillow.  When 
at  last  w^e  took  leave,  he  escorted  us  to  the  outer  gate; 
and  as  we  turned  back  to  wave  a  last  adieu  we  both  ex- 
claimed :  "He  is  indeed  rightly  named  Moses/'  His  sons, 
as  Oriental  courtesy  demands,  escorted  us  a  long  way 
through  the  city. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  visits,  corres- 
pondence, and  eternal  friendship  between  us.  I  must  give 
here  his  words  of  parting  at  our  last  interview,  months 
after,  as  we  were  leaving  Africa.  Pere  Hyacinthe  had 
summed  up  the  sorrowful  situation  of  religion  in  the  world 
by  saying:  "I  sometimes  think  that  God  must  send  us 
another  Prophet  to  incite  us  into  the  true  following  of 
His  will  and  laws." 

The  holy  man  replied,  with  greater  promptitude  than 
was  his  wont,  and  with  a  radiant  face :  "Ah !  my  brother, 
what  you  hope  for  or  believe  vaguely,  we  Moslems  be- 
lieve absolutely! — that  God  will  send  One  in  His  due  time 
—who  will  be  the  Messiah,  and  his  name  will  be  Aissa 
(Jesus)  !" 

Thus  we  entered  the  heart  of  Islam. 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHS  IN  ALGIERS. 

SOON  after  our  arrival  in  Algiers,  a  committee  of 
gentlemen,  composed  of  Christians:  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  Freethinkers,  and  Mussulmans,  invited  Pere 
Hyacinthe  to  give  a  conference  (lecture)  on  the  social  ques- 
tions of  the  day,  which  he  did.  Very  necessarily  religion 
had  its  important  part,  especially  that  universal  religion 
which  underlies  all  morals,  all  civilizations,  and  all  true 
progress;  and  which  includes  and  implies  all  worship  of 
the  Creator  of  the  Universe,  under  whatever  name  or 
form  it  may  be.  Unfortunately  Christians  take  little  pains 
to  study  the  religion  of  Islam,  or  to  become  acquainted 
with  their  inner  life;  and  the  result  is  that  mutual  and 
most  deplorable  ignorance,  which  so  easily  provokes  dis- 
trust and  hatred  between  the  followers  of  Jesus  and  those 
of  Mohammed,  both  of  whom  have  much  in  common;  for 
both  are  worshippers  of  the  same  God,  and  both  subject 
to  the  same  Divine  Law,  as  given  to  the  world  by  Moses. 
Among  the  large  audience  at  the  lecture  a  number  of 
turbans  were  seen,  which  was  unloooked  for,  as  Moslems 
take  little  interest  and  no  part  in  public  meetings  of  any 
kind,  much  less  in  Christian  exposition  of  religion.  And 
what  was  still  more  remarkable,  some  of  the  chief  mem- 
bers of  the  Mosque,  Sheiks,  Imam  and  Mufti,  occupied 
the  front  seats.  As  French  is  the  language  of  the  country, 


ARAB  SCHOOL. 


A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHS  IN  ALGIERS.        2J 

the  orator  was  well  understood.  The  audience,  composed 
mainly  of  French  colonists  who  had  seldom,  if  ever,  heard 
a  religious  discourse  outside  of  the  church  where  they  go 
all  too  rarely,  were  enthusiastic,  and  to  the  general  aston- 
ishment the  Arabs  joined  in  the  frequent  applause.  This 
was  another  new  departure  from  the  imperturbability  of 
their  race,  which  gives  little  place  for  manifestations  of 
emotions  of  any  kind. 

The  speaker  had  scarcely  left  the  platform  before  he 
was  surrounded  by  a  number  of  Arabs,  the  foremost  of 
whom,  a  head  taller  than  the  others — and  all  were  tall 
and  clad  in  their  magnificent  costume — handed  in  his  card 
which  read  thus:  "Ali-Ckerif,  Commander  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  Colonel  of  the  French  Army,  Member  of  the 
Council  Superior  of  the  Government"  Omitting  the 
usual  preliminary  salutation  for  health  and  longevity,  he 
poured  forth  to  the  orator  the  most  eloquent  and  enthu- 
siastic address  of  welcome  to  the  shores  of  Africa,  and  to 
its  people,  the  tenor  of  which  may  be  given  in  the  perora- 
tion, which  was  as  follows:  "We  thank  Heaven  that  at 
last  France  has  sent  us  a  loyal  citizen  who  dares  to  speak 
to  us  of  God !" 

Ali-Cherif  is  the  most  notable  Arab  of  Algiers,  not 
only  because  he  is,  as  his  name  (Cherif)  implies,  a  des- 
cendant of  the  Prophet,  but  because  of  his  superior  intel- 
ligence and  culture,  his  position  and  wealth.  Besides  this, 
unlike  most  of  his  race,  he  is  a  French  citizen,  subject, 
therefore,  to  all  the  laws  of  France,  its  rights  and  its  res- 
ponsibilities. 

It  must  be  explained  here  that  since  the  conquest  of 
Algeria  by  the  French,  the  natives:  Arabs,  Moors,  Ka- 
byles,  and  the  conglomerate  mass  of  all  other  African 
tribes,  as  well  as  Jews,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  etc., 
who  are  native  born  residents,  are  all,  necessarily,  sub- 
jects; but  citizenship  is  optional,  save  to  the  French  born. 


28  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Mussulmans  form  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants, 
there  being  almost  as  many  French  Moslem  subjects  in 
Africa  as  there  are  citizens  in  France,  i.  e.,  thirty  millions. 
Once  the  oath  of  citizenship  is  taken,  they  must  of  course 
abide  by  the  French  law,  the  Code  Napoleon;  while  the 
Moslem  subjects  are  governed  by  the  laws  of  Mohammed, 
the  Code  of  the  Koran,  of  which  they  are  most  tenacious, 
living  and  dying  by  it.  While  the  Code  Napoleon  is 
based  upon  Roman  legislature,  the  Koran  is  a  faithful  ex- 
ponent of  Mosaic  Law,  added  to  which  are  rules  and  regu- 
lations by  the  Prophet  concerning  all  the  details  of  life: 
civil,  religious,  public,  and  private.  There  is,  therefore, 
little  need  of  legislation;  and  this  banishes  politics,  rival- 
ries, and  much  human  ambition;  and  gives  simplicity  and 
unity,  as  well  as  peace,  to  its  world.  It  is  the  adjustment 
and  reconciliation  of  the  two  codes  which  renders  legis- 
lation and  magistrature  very  difficult  in  all  the  French 
colonies,  and  all  other  Christian  nations  whose  colonies 
contain  followers  of  Mohammed.  Though  Moslems  are 
a  conquered  race  throughout  the  different  great  and  small 
French  colonies  in  Africa  and  the  Protectorate  of  Tunis, 
their  religion  is  scrupulously  respected  and  even  provided 
for  by  the  French  government:  for  instance,  all  that  re- 
lates to  worship,  to  the  family,  marriage,  property,  etc., 
is  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Cadi  (the  Moslem 
magistrate  or  judge).  Citizenship  gives  the  right  of  suf- 
frage to  the  subject,  and  prohibits  polygamy,  which  under 
French  law,  of  course,  is  bigamy,  and  is  punished  with 
severity,  while  Moslem  subjects  who  are  not  citizens- 
following  the  patriarchs — are  free  to  have  from  one  to 
four  wives  if  they  like.  It  is  with  great  satisfaction,  we 
state  at  once,  that  this  great  evil — the  legacy  of  our  com- 
mon ancestors  and  patriarchs — is  rapidly  disappearing 
throughout  Islam,  and  especially  with  progressive  culture 
and  civilization. 


A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHE  IN  ALGIERS.        2Q 

Ali-Cherif  distinguished  himself  as  a  soldier,  particu- 
larly during  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  on  the  battle-fields 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  which  endears  him  to  the  French 
hearts,  and  thus  he  became  a  hero  of  loyalty  and  military 
prowess  on  both  sides  of  the  Mediterranean. 

As  in  the  finest  landscape  shadows  have  their  place, 
so  in  human  circumstances,  however  fair  and  attractive 
they  may  be,  there  is  the  darker  color  of  lurking  shades; 
and  when  that  circumstance  is  war  the  light  is  lurid  and 
the  dark  is  as  black  as  night,  and  death,  and  hell !  So  this 
noble  soldier  in  case  of  war  or  revolt  among  the  Arabs,  in 
loyalty  to  his  adopted  country,  is  forced  to  fight  against 
his  own  people  and  shed  his  own  brothers'  blood!  This 
position  is  not  approved  of  by  the  majority  of  his  fellow 
believers,  for  Moslems  hold  their  faith  far  above  all 
earthly  considerations  of  country,  people,  race,  brother- 
hood or  family.  All  these  are  of  little  account  compared 
to  their  religion.  Thus  they  naturally  look  with  indiffer- 
ence, if  not  suspicion,  upon  the  progress  of  Christian  civili- 
zation, which  is  often  incivility  and  moral  decadence,  and 
they  are,  therefore,  slow  to  accept  or  adapt  themselves  to 
modern  exigencies.  But  when  once  convinced  that  their 
religious  liberties  are  not  to  be  infringed  upon,  nor  moral 
corruption  forced  upon  them,  they  finally  accept  the  situa- 
tion, and  are  true  and  loyal  subjects.  Comparatively  few, 
however,  become  citizens. 

It  required  thirty  years  of  determined  resistance  and 
bloody  warfare  for  their  great  Emir,  Abd-el-Kader,  to 
accept  the  sovereignty  of  France;  but  when  once  con- 
quered he  became  convinced  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  his 
people,  and  was  ever  after  not  only  a  willing  subject,  but 
a  devoted  friend  and  valiant  ally  to  France;  and  his  sons 
and  grand-sons  follow  him. 

After  this  necessary  explanation  I  must  relate  what 
came  of  our  interview  with  the  distinguished  Arab. 


30  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Though  our  carriage  awaited  us  at  the  close  of  Pere  Hya- 
cinthe's  conference,  Ali-Cherif  insisted  on  driving  us  home 
in  his,  and  as  we  parted  he  invited  us  to  visit  him  the  next 
day  at  his  residence,  Mustapha  Palace. 

At  the  hour  appointed  his  carriage  was  at  our  door, 
and  it  was  superb — of  the  best  Paris  make,  with  coachman 
and  footman  in  Arab  livery,  and  drawn,  or  rather  flown, 
by  Arab  steeds  of  purest  blood  and  fleetest  feet,  their  flanks 
burnished — one  as  with  golden  bronze,  the  other  with  glis- 
tening silver — their  long  tails  sweeping  the  ground,  their 
manes  floating  in  the  breeze  like  a  cloud  of  silken  floss. 

The  Moorish  palace  stands  in  the  upper  circle  of  the 
vast  amphitheatre  of  Mustapha  Superieur  which  rises  be- 
hind the  city  of  Algiers.  Half  way  up  the  steep  and 
winding  ascent,  amid  orange  groves,  palm  trees,  and  the 
fragrant  eucalyptus,  we  were  met,  according  to  Oriental 
courtesy,  by  the  forerunner  of  welcome — the  scion  of  the 
house,  the  chieftain's  only  son,  followed  by  a  number  of 
tall  retainers,  in  white,  flowing  Arab  costume,  putting  to 
shame,  in  ethics  and  hygiene,  the  Paris  tailor's  art  as  worn 
by  the  son,  who  had  been  educated  in  France.  He  wore, 
however,  the  distinguishing  red  fez;  which,  by  the  way, 
is  far  more*  serviceable  and  becoming  than  our  "dress 
hats."  The  carriage  stopped  and  the  son  entered,  giving 
fluent  speech  of  welcome,  and  we  soon  flashed  under  the 
high  archway  upon  whose  keystone  is  engraven,  first  in 
Arab  then  in  French,  the  name  of  the  dwelling:  "The 
Eagle's  Nest,''  and  drew  up  at  the  foot  of  a  broad  stair- 
case which  winds  up  to  the  wide  marble  terrace  where  the 
host  was  waiting  to  receive  us.  And  what  a  superb  speci- 
men of  the  human  race  is  this  Arab  chieftain!  Added  to 
that  attractive  military  bearing,  native  to  the  descendants 
of  the  proud  dwellers  of  the  desert,  were  the  perfect  man- 
ners of  the  high-bred  gentleman  of  European  capitals. 
He  is  a  man  of  about  sixty  years  of  age,  wears  a  full 


HIGH    CLASS   ARAB. 


A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHE  IN  ALGIERS.        3! 

Arab  costume  of  a  military  officer,  and  on  his  breast  the 
cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  fabric  of  his  dress 
was  of  light  blue  broad-cloth,  full  trousers  to  just  below 
the  knee,  where  they  met  the  red  morocco  cavalry  boots. 
A  short  jacket,  covered  with  military  trappings,  a  broad 
white  and  gold  embroidered  scarf  about  his  waist,  and  a 
large  turban  of  the  same  material,  completed  his  costume. 
All  was  ease,  elegance  and  amplitude,  befitting  the  soldier 
and  befitting  the  man.  How  unlike  our  soldiers'  dress  in 
Europe  and  America:  uncomfortable,  ugly,  unhealthy, 
and  really  injurious  to  manly  demeanor  and  soldierly  dig- 
nity. The  bravest  and  best  formed  men,  soldiers  or  civil- 
ians, look  humiliated  and  victimized  in  such  accouter- 
ments. 

After  the  welcome  our  host  turned  to  the  front  of  the 
terrace,  unmindful  of  the  works  of  man  in  the  palace,  gar- 
den and  highly  cultivated  domain;  and  with  arms  ex- 
tended towards  the  magnificent  panorama  of  earth,  sky, 
and  sea,  exclaimed:  "Behold  the  glorious  work  of  God!'-' 
Long  we  stood  on  this  high  aerie  ledge,  gazing  with  ad- 
miration upon  the  far-stretching  coast,  from  the  beautiful 
harbor  of  Algiers,  which  lay  at  our  feet,  far  to  the  east- 
ward where  from  out  the  sea,  down  the  Barbary  coast, 
the  soft  melting  lines  of  the  Djurdjura  Mountains  and  the 
Kabyle  Hills,  skirting  the  horizon,  rise  up  into  the  Atlas 
Mountains.  He  pointed  out  the  different  places  of  his- 
toric events,  siege  and  assault,  defeat  and  victory,  which 
mark  the  long  centuries  of  warfare  between  Islam  and 
Christianity,  a  warfare  which  so  often  degenerated  into 
piracy;  but  which,  with  the  inevitable  progress  of  man- 
kind, legitimate  commerce,  civilization  and  peace,  was 
finally  swept  away.  And  nowhere  is  our  beautiful  earth 
more  lovely  than  from  the  Algerian  heights  overlooking 
this  great  inner  sea,  upon  whose  blue  waves  and  classic 


32  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

shores  the  succeeding  centuries  have. written  the  whole 
history  of  the  world! 

Then  he  led  us  into  his  dwelling,  a  palace  of  Moorish 
architecture.  In  the  midst  thereof  is  a  great  central  court, 
whose  floor,  walls,  and  pillars,  which  uphold  the  upper 
gallery,  are  of  polished  white  marble.  Here  grows  a 
mammoth  grape  vine  whose  enormous  branches  extend 
around  the  colonnade  and  along  the  upper  balustrade,  and 
then  up,  with  deft  training,  form  a  leafy  roof  through 
which,  from  out  the  deep  blue  sky,  the  yellow  sunlight 
casts  chasing  flecks  of  gold  over  all  the  polished  white  be- 
neath. It  was  indeed  an  inner  scene  of  magical  beauty. 

"This,"  said  our  host,  pointing  to  the  vine,  "was 
planted  by  my  ancestors  many  generations  ago,  and  it 
was  with  the  greatest  care  and  difficulty  that  I  was  able 
to  preserve  it  when  tearing  down  the  old  dwelling  and 
building  the  new."  It  was  the  allegoric  and  scriptural 
vine  and  shows  that  whatever  transformation  may  come 
to  Islam,  it  will  never  consent  to  having  its  patriarchal 
institutions  destroyed.  They  are  dearer  to  the  Mussul- 
man than  all  modern  progress  —  dearer  than  life  itself. 
Already  we  begin  to  feel  the  formidable  resisting  forces 
or  Islam,  moral  and  religious. 

We  were  ushered  into  a  large  drawing-room,  which 
impressed  us  painfully  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view, 
but  very  agreeably  in  a  patriotic  way;  for  there,  though 
the  architecture  was  of  the  purest  Arab  style,  with  domed 
ceiling  of  arabesque  tracery,  like  delicate  lace  work,  and 
lighted  through  stained  glass  which  shone  like  gems 
within  its  folds:  the  furniture  was  Louis  XV.  (The  very 
name  of  that  king  is  always  disagreeable  to  me,  and  I 
am  loth  to  hear  admiration  for  anything  approaching  his 
"style/')  The  incongruity  was  pardonable  when  our  host 
explained :  "Here  we  are  in  France,  for  although  I  built 
mv  house  after  the  best  models  of  Cordova,  I  needed  for 


A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHE  IN  ALGIERS.        33 

my  friends  of  France,  who  like  you  come  to  visit  me,  a 
little  corner  of  La  Patrie,  where  they  will  feel  perfectly 
at  home."  And  furthermore  he  informed  us  that  this 
beautiful  Moorish  mansion  was  built  by  an  English  archi- 
tect. Thus  in  the  steady  development  of  humanity  are 
multitudes  of  silent,  synthetic  forces:  art,  science,  so- 
cial intercourse,  and,  above  all,  true  religion.  Humanity 
is  autonomous:  we  need  each  other,  we  must  be  united; 
and  for  this,  we  must  first  be  reconciled.  And  even  here 
in  the  Dark  Continent,  friendly  relation,  mutual  help,  with 
divine  motives,  are  bringing  it  about. 

Coffee  and  sweets  were  served  at  once,  brought  in  by 
a  young  Kabyle  girl  with  uncovered  face.  With  the  quick 
intelligence  of  his  race  our  host  felt  our  surprise  and  ex- 
plained that  the  Kabyles  had  more  freedom  than  the 
Arabs,  and  that  their  very  young  girls,  who  sometimes 
serve  in  other  families,  were  not  constrained  to  wear  veils 
in  the  presence  of  men:  downcast  eyes  and  modest  mien 
serve  them  instead.  The  young  girl  put  the  tray  upon  a 
side  table  near  the  door  and  retired  at  once,  never  raising 
her  eyes.  I  had  time  enough  to  notice  that  her  lace  and 
hands  were  tattooed,  which  is  the  custom  among  the 
Kabyles  and  Bedouins,  but  seldom  among  Arab  women. 
There  is  surely  no  accounting  for  taste,  and  what  seems 
beautiful  to  these  women  is  disfiguring  and  hideous  in 
our  eyes. 

The  son  did  the  honors,  serving  us  the  inimitable 
Arab  coffee  in  infinitesimal  cups,  which,  instead  of  sau- 
cers, were  placed  in  gold  filigree  holders;  and  which,  to 
avoid  disaster,  required  no  little  attention  and  dexterity 
to  unaccustomed  hands.  Arab  coffee  is  sweetened  a  point, 
teaspoons  are  never  used,  which,  by  the  way,  greatly  les- 
sened the  danger.  Then  sweets  were  handed  in  discretely 
by  a  fair  white  arm  covered  with  gold  and  silver  bracelets 
and  bangles ;  but  to  whom  the  arm  belonged  was  not  to  be 


34  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM 

surmised.  The  sweets  were  received  by  the  son  at  the 
door  which  he  carefully  closed  at  once. 

This  fair  white  arm  of  an  unseen  woman  was  my  first 
intimation  of  the  great  shut-in  kingdom. 

Neither  our  host  nor  his  son  partook  of  the  refresh- 
ments ;  that  would  be  a  breach  of  courtesy,  for,  in  extend- 
ing hospitality  the  Oriental  becomes  in  very  fact  "your 
humble  servant."  And  this  delicate  service  was  not  for- 
gotten throughout  the  long  and  very  interesting  conver- 
sation which  followed. 

Another  Oriental  custom  I  observed:  The  son,  who 
was  perhaps  twenty-three  years  old,  remained  standing 
aloof  until  his  father  motioned  him  to  sit,  and  ventured 
no  word  unless  spoken  to,  though  giving  courteous  atten- 
tion to  all  that  was  said.  This  custom  is  universal  in  Is- 
lam, where,  out  of  respect  to  their  parents,  children  al- 
ways remain  standing  in.  their  presence  until  they  are  com- 
manded by  them  to  be  seated,  and  only  speak  when  spoken 
to.  (I  need  not  stop  here  to  make  comparisons  with  our 
"higher"  civilization.) 

Cigarettes  were  offered  but  no  one  smoked,  and  true 
Oriental  politeness  forbids  insistence. 

After  an  hour's  interesting  and  most  instructive  con- 
versation Ali-Cherif  arose  and  said  to  my  husband :  "Now 
Mon  Pere,  I  will  show  you  the  garden  and  grounds,  while 
Madame  Loyson  will  be  entertained  by  the  ladies  of  my 
family  who  are  very  desirous  of  making  her  acquaint- 


ance." 


My  surprise  was  only  equaled  by  my  satisfaction  at 
this  unlooked-for  realization  of  my  ardent  desire  to  get 
a  glimpse  of  harem-life,  which  is  not  only  very  difficult 
for  foreign  ladies  to  obtain,  but  almost  impossible  among 
the  higher  families,  for,  not  only  may  not  strangers  ask 
to  see  the  women  of  the  household,  but  it  is  a  breach  of 
etiquette  even  to  enquire  concerning  their  health.  Harem 


A  CONFERENCE  BY  PERE  HYACINTHS  IN  ALGIERS.        35 

life  for  strangers  is  not  only  a  closed  and  hermetically 
sealed  domain,  but  it  must  be  a  realm  ignored. 
The  gentlemen  withdrew. 

O 

[That  this  book  may  not  be  overlarge,  all  that  relates 
to  Harem  Life  during  our  voyages  from  1895  to  1901  is 
reserved  for  a  forthcoming  volume. — E.  H.  L.] 


w 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FROM   ALGIERS  TO  ORAN. 

February  18,  1895. 

E  had  received  urgent  invitations  to  go  to  Tlem- 
cen,  near  the  frontier  of  Morocco.  Our  hearts 
were  full  of  anticipated  joy  as  we  found  ourselves  seated 
in  the  primitive  railway  carriage  that  was  to  carry  us  into 
the  Atlas  mountains.  We  stopped  for  the  night  midway 
between  Algiers  and  Oran,  at  Affreville,  in  souvenir  of 
Monsignor  Affre,  Bishop  of  Paris,  after  whom  the  town 
was  named,  and  who  was  one  of  the  bishops  who  ordained 
Pere  Hyacinthe  to  the  priesthood.  In  1848  he  was  shot 
on  the  barricades  of  Paris  with  an  olive  branch  of  peace 
in  his  hand.  In  connection  with  this  I  cannot  refrain  from 
mentioning  the  strange  fact  that  another  bishop  who  as- 
sisted the  ordination  of  Pere  Hyacinthe,  Monsignor  Si- 
bour,  was  assassinated  at  the  Altar  of  Notre  Dame  de 
Paris,  and  still  another  of  his  ordaining  bishops,  and 
his  Ecclesiastical  Superior,  at  the  time  of  his  rupture  with 
the  Roman  Church,  Monsignor  Darboys.  Archbishop  of 
Paris,  having  been  given  as  hostage,  was  shot  by  the 
communists  in  1870.  (I  have  many  times  asked  in  trying 
circumstances,  if  their  martyrdom  may  not  fall  to  the  lot 
of  the  priest  they  loved.) 

It  was  with  pious  remembrance  of  the  great-hearted 
and  peace-loving  bishop  who  gave  his  life  for  a  cause 
seemingly  lost,  but  only  submerged :  Peace  among  breth- 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  37 

ren, — that  we  visited  the  church  here  dedicated  to  this 
noble  and  patriotic  bishop. 

Our  hotel  reminded  me  of  the  houses  in  Mexico,  of 
only  one  story — because  of  the  frequency  of  earth- 
quakes— and  constructed,  according  to  Moorish  custom, 
with  an  inner  court,  upon  which  all  the  doors  and  windows 
open;  these  latter  being  very  small  and  consisting  of  but 
one  pane  of  glass  to  avoid  the  heat  in  summer.  This  court 
is  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  around  and  contains  the  flower 
and  vegetable  gardens.  In  the  centre  is  a  covered  w^ell, 
from  which  the  water  is  drawn  by  a  sleepy,  slow-turning 
old  horse. 

There  were  no  bells  in  our  rooms  to  ring,  only  a  "belle" 
to  call ;  and  the  next  morning  when  we  needed  her,  wish- 
ing our  hot  water  and  cafe-au-lait,  we  were  forced  to  make 
a  charivari  with  shovel  and  tongs  through  the  half-opened 
door;  indeed,  it  had  been  half-opened  all  night,  as  there 
was  no  possible  way  of  closing  it.  We  had,  however,  be- 
fore retiring  for  the  night,  taken  the  precaution  of  barri- 
cading it  with  the  wash-stand  and  all  manner  of  rattling 
commodities.  At  length  the  maid  came  slowly  across  the 
court,  but  had  little  thought  of  anything  save  to  decorate 
her  abundant  red  hair  with  all  the  pretty  flowers  she  could 
pluck  in  the  garden,  entirely  forgetful  of  hot  water.  Fi- 
nally she  set  the  longed-for  tray  of  cafe-au-lait  down  upon 
the  ground  outside,  strolled  calmly  to  a  closed  window, 
which,  owing  to  the  darkness  of  the  room  within,  served 
as  a  mirror,  and  commenced  braiding  her  burnished  hair 
down  her  back,  as  is  the  fashion  with  women  of  this  coun- 
try. Suddenly  the  shovel  and  tongs  went  clattering  out 
against  the  wheel-house!  The  poor  old  horse  came  to  a 
dead  halt  and  actually  lifted  one  ear  in  our  direction,  then 
slowly  dropped  his  head  and  fell  into  a  slumber  (dream- 
less, alas!  of  racial  ancestry)  in  which  we  left  him  an  hour 
afterwards,  as  we  hurried  to  the  train.  But  in  justice  to 


38  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM 

the  minx  of  a  maid,  I  must  say  that  the  discordant  music 
we  created  with  our  impromptu  gong  brought  her  to  us 
at  once  with  a  half-frightened  air,  saying,  with  her  hand 
coquettishly  placed  on  her  palpitating  heart,  "Oh,  I'm  so 
glad!  I  thought  it  was  an  earthquake!" 

"But  the  coffee!  the  coffee!"  we  cried,  "for  the  train 
will  not  wait  for  us  over  an  hour  or  two."  I  must  add, 
also,  that  as  we  hurried  across  the  court  with  our  bags 
and  bundles,  rushing  to  the  station,  she  came  flitting 
towards  us  with  the  hot  water,  whose  absence  we  had  long 
forgotten.  We  gave  her  a  bonne-main  and  our  pardon 
also,  for  the  way  she  smiled  at  the  young  dandy  of  a 
garcon  explained  all;  and  we  are  bound  to  be  very  indul- 
gent to  a  pair  of  young  simpletons  in  love. 

Another  long  delightful  day's  ride  among  the  barren 
hills,  up  through  the  sublime  monotony  of  the  high  plateau 
of  the  Atlas  mountains,,  which  was  broken  only  now  and 
then  in  the  most  unexpected  places,  and  sometimes  on  the 
most  perilous  peaks,  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  lone 
figure,  a  clear  cut  silhouette  of  an  Arab  shepherd,  draped 
in  voluminous  dusky  white;  while  here  and  there  in  the 
crevices  flocks  of  browsing  goats  might  be  seen.  If  the 
shepherd  be  old  and  contemplative,  he  will  scarcely  turn 
his  head  to  see  the  train  go  by;  if  young,  he  may  come  to 
look  at  us  as  we  pass,  and  perhaps  offer  us  some  wild 
asparagus,  the  only  marketable  product  of  this  unculti- 
vated soil. 

And  the  children!  What  swarms  of  them  fly  down  to 
sell  a  few  little  flowers,  or  to  ask  for  a  backsheesh,  Arabs 
never  ask  for  money, — their  dignity  does  not  permit  this, 
but,  as  presents  are  the  meet  recompense  for  hospitality 
among  them,  extending  the  hands  and  asking  for  back- 
sheesh simply  means,  and  with  something  of  justice  in  it 
as  well  as  a  pledge  of  friendliness  or  good  faith:  "You 
pass  through  our  country,  you  visit  us,  please  give  us  a 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  39 

present."  When  a  penny  is  tossed  from  the  carriage  win- 
dow the  squabble  for  it  is  as  picturesque  as  it  is  good- 
natured;  indeed  the  Arabs,  though  not  given  to  hilarity, 
are  gentle  and  good-tempered. 

Concerning  the  wild  asparagus  which  is  offered  along 
the  route  by  the  poor  natives,  whose  palm  is  seldom  cov- 
ered with  even  a  copper  coin,  the  price,  six  sous,  for  a 
good-sized  bunch,  sufficient  for  two  persons,  is  certainly 
ridiculously  small ;  and  yet  we  saw  well-dressed  Christian 
ladies,  living  in  adjoining  towns,  desirous  of  taking  home 
a  dainty  for  the  dinner  table,  barter  and  bargain  sou  by 
sou,  all  the  time  the  train  stopped — and  finally  succeed 
in  carrying  off  the  coveted  prize  for  three  sous,  triumph- 
antly showing  their  bargains  to  their  fellow-travellers. 
But  to  do  the  lady  justice,  I  feel  sure  that  she,  being  rich, 
would  willingly  put  ten  sous  into  the  collection  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  in  aid  of  the  mission  for  converting  the 
Moslems  to  Christianity, 

As  the  train  moved  away,  we  saw  the  old  Arab  who 
had  been  worsted  in  the  transaction,  walking  quietly 
toward  the  village,  looking  sadly  yet  gladly  at  the  three 
sous  in  his  shrivelled  palm,  the  result  perhaps  of  a  whole 
day's  searching  in  the  barren  mountains.  But  I  believe 
his  pride  was  less  in  the  possession  of  the  money  than  at 
having  entered  into  "commercial  relations"  with  the  great 
progressive  world — from  which,  however,  save  in  these 
small  business  transactions,  he  holds  himself  respectfully 
and  conscientiously  aloof.  For  what  can  money  bring 
these  men  of  the  mountain,  or  dwellers  in  the  desert? 
There  is  nothing  to  buy  and  little  needed,  save  the  funda- 
mental elements  of  sustenance,  bread  and  water,  and  Allah 
sends  them  both,  almost  without  labor.  There  is  no 
"struggle  for  life"  as  with  us,  only  endurance;  and,  save 
in  drought  and  famine,  their  wants  are  supplied,  including 
length  of  days.  "Islam"  means  resignation. 


40  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

And  who  are  the  happier?  they  without  money,  or  we 
with  our  gold?  Their  happiness  no  money  can  buy,  while 
we  barter  and  venture  ours,  and  often  only  for  the  sake 
of  venture  and  barter.  Who  are  the  wiser? 

Yet  their  little  pieces  of  copper  are  not  disdained,  for 
after  a  certain  quantity  has  been  collected  a  pretty,  gay- 
colored  piece  of  cloth  will  be  bought  in  the  town  for  the 
wife,  or  a  bangle,  a  necklace,  or  an  anklet,  for  a  bride. 
Sometimes,  after  a  given  number  of  thousands  are  col- 
lected, which  may  require  almost  his  lifetime,  unless  flocks 
are  exchanged,  the  man  will  purchase  for  himself  that 
which  is  the  one  great  desire  of  the  Arab's  life:  a  thor- 
oughbred horse,  child  of  the  desert  like  himself.  Mounted 
upon  his  steed,  pur  sang,  the  Arab  is  at  the  summit  of 
human  dignity  and  earthly  happiness. 

At  the  next  station  another  Christian  attempted  to 
make  vicarious  amends,  for  his  countrywoman's  cupidity 
by  buying  up  all  the  asparagus  which  the  young  men  of- 
fered, and  his  wife  by  setting  up  in  business  a  very  old 
Arab — the  establishment  costing  about  one  franc. 

At  another  station,  when  a  whole  band  of  the  "cun- 
ningest"  little  half-naked  children  were  drawn  up  in  line, 
singing,  or  rather  muttering  a  little  trembling  refrain  in 
the  drollest  manner  conceivable,  accompanied  with  a 
rhythmic  quaking  of  their  bodies,  the  Christian  traveller 
gave  them  a  sou  apiece  and  bade  the  dragoman  explain  to 
them  that  it  was  always  better  to  earn  money  by  singing 
or  by  selling  flowers  and  asparagus,  or  even  pretty  peb- 
bles, than  to  get  it  by  asking  for  backsheesh.  They  all 
understood  and  promised  to  follow  his  counsel.  And  how 
they  "cut"  for  the  mountains  as  soon  as  the  train  started ! 
Following  them  with  our  glass,  we  could  descry,  far  away 
among  the  foot-hills,  hidden  within  the  gray  thorn  bush, 
the  tents  of  their  village,  to  which  these  little  children 
carried  surprise  and  happiness  for  many  days. 


^FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  4! 

The  stars  had  long  been  out,  making  the  African  night 
almost  day,  when  we  arrived  at  Oran.  Our  friend,  Dr. 
L.,  surgeon  in  the  French  army  stationed  there,  met  us  at 
the  train,  looking  like  a  ghost  in  the  white  moonlight. 
He  asked  us  about  our  impressions  of  Africa,  and  at  our 
enthusiastic  reply  exclaimed  with  something  of  pity  in  the 
shrug  of  his  shoulders:  "O  Paris!  My  poor  little  wife 
and  I  are  dying  to  get  back  to  Paris!" 

There  is  indeed  no  accounting  for  tastes. 

Oran.     Negro  Village.     Grand  Mufti.     Conference. 
(Arrived  in  Oran,  February  19,  1895.) 

This  old  Moorish  city  is  full  of  history  written  in 
stones,  archives,  and  races.  It  was  alternately  the  great 
stronghold  of  Moors,  Turks,  and  Spaniards,  during  cen- 
turies of  expeditions,  invasion,  warfare,  and  piracies.  Its 
physiognomy  to-day  is  a  composite:  Moorish,  Spanish, 
and  European,  the  foreign  population  predominating  over 
the  native,  making  the  aspect  of  the  city  much  less  pic- 
turesque, to  say  nothing  of  the  value  of  its  primitive  race. 
The  result  of  this  infinite  crossing  is  certainly  not  in  this 
present  generation  at  Nature's  best.  The  pure  Arab  or 
Moorish  type  is  unfortunately  almost  obliterated  among 
this  mottled  mixture  from  every  African  latitude  with 
that  of  other  continents.  There  is,  however,  a  redeeming 
quality:  an  immense  activity;  and  this  alone,  with  moral 
and  intellectual  culture,  will  do  much  to  correct  the  mis- 
takes of  unwise  or  forced  "selection." 

Oran  is  an  important  commercial  port,  and  my  heart 
leapt  with  native  joy  at  seeing  my  dear  old  flag,  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  floating  at  the  ship's  mast  among  those  from 
all  other  parts  of  the  world;  and  one  day,  when  we  saw 
the  United  States  warship  "Chicago,"  of  the  White  Squad- 
ron, rounding  proudly  out  of  this  peaceful  port,  we  waved 


42  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

her  good-bye  and  Godspeed,  as  she  steamed  eastward  on 
her  mission  of  peace  in  this  fair  sea  and  its  adjacent 
waters — up  through  the  crystal  ^gean  blue  into  the  Bos- 
phorus.  May  Heaven  always  accompany  our  white  fleets 
on  their  errands  of  mercy! 

There  are  in  Oran,  however,  some  fine  specimens  of 
men,  women,  and  children.  The  most  striking  among  the 
women  are  Jewesses  and  Andalusians;  and  behind  the 
veil,  in  harem  life,  I  saw  some  of  great  beauty.  In  the 
outside  world,  the  world  of  the  street,  flaunting  Paris 
fashions  hold  high  their  ridiculous  pretensions,  which  are 
happily  of  no  account  to  the  daughters  of  Rachel  in  their 
rich  brocades  of  silk  and  gold,  and  are  utterly  distasteful 
to  the  classical,  white  draped  daughters  of  Kadisha.*  The 
daughters  of  Mary,  alas!  have  wandered  away  from  the 
following  of  the  modest  Maid  of  Bethlehem,  in  whose 
name  dwells  all  that  is  lovely,  simple,  and  holy, — and  in 
the  vain  reflection  of  their  mirrors  they  have  lost  the  re- 
flection of  her  glory. 

The  entire  population  shows  quick  intelligence,  though 
education  and  culture  have  been  deplorably  neglected. 
Throughout  the  country,  however,  the  present  French 
government  spares  neither  pains  nor  money  in  its  schools 
and  colleges,  which  rank  high. 

The  town  has  five  distinct  quarters:  the  Moorish,  Old 
Spanish,  Jewish,  Negro,  and  Modern  European.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  in  our  ethnological  researches  was 
the  Negro  Village,  a  large  suburban  town,  where  we 
found  the  finest  pure-blooded  negroes  we  had  ever  seen. 

Superb  in  human  build  are  those  tall,  well-formed 
black  men,  swathed  in  white,  with  their  unblemished  teeth 
of  ivory;  and  with  their  respectful  demeanor,  which  re- 
veals nothing  of  savagery,  but  the  dignity  of  nature.  It 
was  market  day,  but  there  was  no  ribaldry,  no  quarrelling, 

*  Wife  of  Mohammed. 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  43 

no  drunkenness,  for  all  being  Mussulmans,  no  wine  or  in- 
toxicating beverage  is  used — nothing  but  water  and,  as  a 
luxury,  a  tiny  cup  of  Arab  coffee. 

We  noticed  that  to  the  necks  and  arms  of  many  were 
attached  curious  little  amulets.  When  we  asked  what  they 
contained  some  replied:  "cri-cri,"*  and  others  told  us  that 
theirs  contained  texts  from  the  Koran,  and  most  of  them 
gave  us  to  understand  that  they  were  talismans  against 
sickness  and  harm.  Some  devout  Moslems  wore  both  the 
"cri-cri"  and  the  Koran,  as  devout  Catholics  often  wear 
medals  or  supposed  relics  of  saints, — only  they  do  not,  I 
regret  to  say,  often  add  the  texts  of  the  Scriptures. 

So  these  simple  and  credulous  people  from  the  unen- 
lightened regions  of  the  Dark  Continent  have  brought  to 
the  borders  of  Christian  civilization,  and  in  an  unreason- 
ing way  have  attached  their  fetish  to  righteous  maxims 
and  divine  truth.  And,  as  eventually  the  diviner  and 
truer  will  carry  the  day  and  races,  we  did  not  quarrel  with 
them  about  the  superstition,  but  took  pains  to  tell  them 
that  we  believed  the  text  from  the  Koran  was  of  more 
value  than  the  "cri-cri,"  as  it  proclaimed  God,  while  the 
fetish  never  spoke  of  Him.  They  all  agreed  with  us,  be- 
ing easily  persuaded  of  self-evident  truths,  and  free 
from  our  prejudices,  which  are  often  narrower  and  more 
inflexible  than  their  superstitions.  We,  of  the  Great 
White  Continents,  we,  also,  have  our  fetish,  keeping  com- 
pany with  the  Gospel;  and  if  God  bears  with  us  who 
ought  to  know  better,  may  we  not  bear  with  these  poor 
ignorant  negroes  who  know  nothing  better  ? 

Two  things  struck  us  with  amusement  here  among 
the  humblest  and  most  primitive  peoples  we  have  so  far 
met,  viz.,  the  absence  of  curiosity  on  the  part -of  the  wo- 
men, and  the  absolute  respect  for  women  on  the  part  of 
the  men.  This  is  not  the  result  of  any  fetish,  but  of  the 

*  The  talisman  of  the  savages  in  Central  Africa. 


/] /|  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

teaching  and  assiduous  inculcations  of  the  Koran — from 
generation  to  generation — of  charity  and  chastity.  We 
saw  many  women  here,  sitting  in  the  doorways  of  their 
cabins  and  tents,  or  going  about  the  streets,  yet  scarcely 
turned  an  eye  toward  us.  No  Mussulman,  be  he  high- 
bred Arab  or  low-born  negro,  when  passing  a  woman  in 
the  street  ever  looks  at  her,  while  his  attitude  shows  im- 
plicitly that  in  thus  appearing  unconscious  of  her  pres- 
ence, he  does  not  ignore  it,  but  testifies,  by  his  averted 
gaze,  the  greatest  respect.  For  any  man,  even  a  relative, 
to  address  a  woman  in  the  street,  except  from  absolute 
necessity  to  offer  her  help,  would  be  eminent  ill-breeding. 

Many  of  the  so-thought  gentlemen  of  our  civilized 
capitals,  whose  manner  of  looking  at  women  in  the  street 
amounts  to  positive  insult,  might  learn  a  lesson  of  native 
politeness  and  genuine  respect  in  this  humble  African  vil- 
lage ;  and  women  who  parade  the  great  boulevards  of  our 
cities,  simply  to  attract  attention,  how  unwomanly  and 
unrefined  are  they  compared  to  those  clean,  white-robed 
negresses,  who  shrink  so  sensitively  from  the  public  gaze ! 
I  quite  understand  their  tenacity  for  covering  their  faces 
in  the  streets,  especially  in  a  mixed  population  of  all  sorts 
of  culture  and  religion;  and  I  know  of  refined  European 
ladies  living  in  these  Moslem  cities,  who  avail  themselves 
at  times  of  this  modest  custom  and  secluding  veil  to  escape 
the  inquisitive  gaze  of  their  own  people ! 

Mount  Mourdjadic,  rising  steep  to  nearly  2000  feet, 
is  a  grand  bulwark  against  invaders  from  .the  sea  or  ma- 
rauders from  the  land,  with  its  formidable  fortress  of 
Santa  Cruz,  its  Christian  chapel,  and  above  them  all  the 
Moslem  dome,  or  Koubba,  a  mosque-like  holy  tomb.  On 
clear  days  the  coast  of  Spain,  between  Algeria  and  Car- 
thagenia,  is  seen,  and  optic  signals  can  be  used  from  con- 
tinent to  continent.  The  panorama  of  earth  and  sea  from 
this  height  is  magnificent.  But  whether  the  days  are 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  45 

clear  or  cloudy,  just  across  the  straits  the  Christians'  guns 
of  Gibraltar  are  always  primed  and  ready  for  fight.     . 

Our  first  visit  was  to  the  Grand  Mufti.  (Mufti  is 
equivalent  to  our  Bishop,  Grand  Mufti  to  our  Arch- 
bishop.) It  was  evident  that  we  were  expected,  for  News 
seems  to  travel  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  in  Moslem  lands, 
and  we  were  received  with  evident  satisfaction.  A  glance 
sufficed  to  show  us  he  was  a  remarkable  man.  Ali-Ben- 
Abderrahman  is  about  forty  years  of  age,  of  medium 
height,  slender  proportions,  and  delicate  lineaments.  His 
head,  face,  and  hands,  with  the  blue  veins  well  defined  be- 
neath the  wax-like  skin,  are  perfect;  the  whole  man  bear- 
ing the  unmistakable  stamp  which  marks  the  highly  in- 
telligent and  devout  nature.  One  mark  of  distinction 
and  appreciation  of  the  French  government  was  shown 
by  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  on  his  breast.  In 
manners  he  is  reserved  though  courteous.  There  is  no 
cant  with  Moslems  and  much  less  triviality.  It  is,  per- 
haps, a  far-fetched  reason  for  my  admiration  for  this 
grand  race  that,  in  my  involuntary  predisposition  to  eth- 
nological analogy,  I  have  remarked  that  the  Arab  resem- 
bles the  best  type  of  our  New  Englander — in  whose  veins 
now,  alone,  flows  pure  English  blood,  (and  because  of 
this  I  may  be  pardoned  in  saying,  par  parenthese,  their 
high  moral  and  religious  qualities,  united  to  indomitable 
energy,  have  made  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  America  the 
foremost  people  in  the  world).  Indeed,  I  should  not  have 
been  surprised  if  the  Grand  Mufti  of  Oran  had  addressed 
me  in  perfect  English,  saying:  "I  hope  you  have  been 
quite  well  since  I  last  met  you  in  Boston."-— Unfortunately 
he  spoke  only  Arabic,  but  his  son-in-law  was  an  excellent 
interpreter,  and  our  conversation  was  of  our  usual  themes : 
history,  races,  and  religions.  The  erudition  of  the  Grand 
Mufti  was  remarkable,  as  was  also  his  knowledge  of  the 
world,  though  he  had  travelled  little,  and  never  out  of 


46  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Africa.  We  told  him  of  the  project  of  building  a  mosque 
in  Paris,  with  a  Moslem  college,  and  expressed  our  hopes 
of  seeing  him  there  some  day.  He  replied  that  it  was  not 
impossible. 

Our  host  showed  us  the  mosque  and  told  us  its  history, 
and  in  going  about  we  could  not  help  observing  in  what 
veneration  he  is  held  by  the  people.  He  seemed,  however, 
annoyed  by  the  excess  of  it,  as  everywhere  he  went  they 
kissed  his  hand  or  his  garments;  and  Christians,  too, 
were  most  profound  in  their  respect  for  one  whom  they 
knew  to  be  a  great  savant,  and  whom  they  deem  a  holy 
man. 

Wherever  we  find  Christians  we  find  croakers,  pes- 
simists, and  infidels,  so  we  were  told  by  some  of  them 
that  a  religious  discourse  in  such  a  city  as  Oran,  with  its 
mixed,  indifferent  population,  would  be  a  failure.  'But 
Pere  Hyacinthe  had  been  invited  to  speak  there,  and  as 
he  is  not  easily  deterred  from  doing  his  duty,  he.  gave  the 
discourse,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mayor,  which  was 
received  with  unexpected  and  unanimous  enthusiasm. 
We  found  the  population  which  had  a  reputation  for  ab- 
solute indifference  to  religion — and  the  Christian  part  is 
almost  totally  Roman  Catholic — most  eager  to  hear  that 
subject  treated.  The  women  of  the  city  frequent  the 
mass  on  Sundays,  and  the  children  attend  catechism;  but 
the  men  are  generally  indifferent.  Here  as  elsewhere, 
among  the  higher  classes,  indifference,  negation,  and 
hostility  to  all  religion  are  very  common,  and  are  often 
considered  to  be  an  indication  of  superior  intelligence, 
progress,  science,  and  liberty. — But  when,  in  a  not  over- 
distant  future,  Science  and  Religion  prove  themselves  to 
be  what  they  really  are — twin  sisters — this  will  be 
changed,  and  the  Great  First  Cause  which  we  call  "God" 
will  be  recognised  in  all  things,  and  finally  it  will  be  ac- 
knowledged and  proclaimed  by  all  men. 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  ORAN.  47 

The  straightforward  speaking  of  divine  truth  is  sure 
to  bear  fruit;  and  after  hearing  the  conference,  a  number 
of  the  oldest  baptized  inhabitants  acknowledged  that  the 
"sermon"  of  Pere  Hyacinthe  was  the  first  they  had  ever 
heard!  Some  of  them  were  so  enthusiastic  that  they 
begged  him  to  preach  "that  Gospel"  again,  and  offered 
him  every  possible  inducement  to  settle  with  them ;  groups 
of  men  formed  about  wherever  he  went,  and  some  ran 
after  him  in  the  streets  crying :  "Vous  etes  noire  sauveur, 
restez  avec  nous!"  (You  are  a  saviour,  do  remain  with 
us!)  Others  who  had  never  in  their  lives  made  a  right- 
eous confession  of  sin,  wished,  as  they  expressed  it,  to 
make  "a  clean  breast  of  it  once  in  their  lives  before  they 
died,"  and  begged  him  to  hear  their  confession. 

This  proves  that  man  is,  after  all,  a  religious  animal. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  MOONLIGHT  NIGHT  IN  THE  ATLAS  MOUNTAINS. 

I  LOVE  soft  breezes,  and  sweet  odors,  and  fading  lines, 
and  twilight,  and  moonlight,  and  all  lovely  and  beau- 
tiful things,  which  move  the  senses  to  their  higher  be- 
hests, opening  the  door  to  the  infinite  regions  of  the  soul. 
But  as  I  am  still  in  the  flesh  with  its  incumbent  duties  and 
with  the  impending  judgment  before  me,  I  am  conscience- 
bound  to  say  that  I  love  humanity  more  than  aught  else 
on  earth.  As  to  worship,  I  adore  only  the  unique  and 
personal  God;  but  I  have  a  cult  for  all  the  manifestations 
of  the  Great  First  Cause,  especially  in  nature,  and  am 
more  interested  in  persons  than  in  places;  and  am  more 
preoccupied  with  the  principles  of  Divine  Government  of 
this  world  than  in  its  politics  or  personalities.  So  it  is 
that  journeying  through  these  Atlas  Mountains  with  their 
green,  odorous  valleys,  and  across  their  high  plateaux, 
with  their  sublime  gray  nudity  and  their  ever-changing 
horizons,  and  never-changing  ethereal  atmosphere,  I  fell 
into  long  precious  hours  of  meditation,  with  deep  spiritual 
impressions,  frequent  object-lessons,  with  some  rare  and 
natural  pictures  hung  up  for  eternity  on  the  walls  of  psy- 
chological memory. 

One  was  this:  on  a  resplendent  night,  while  studying 
from  our  railway  carriage  window  the  constellations 
which  we  had  never  beheld  in  such  radiant  splendor,  we 
noticed,  as  the  hours  wore  away,  that  they  were  growing 


A  MOONLIGHT  NIGHT  IN  THE  ATLAS  MOUNTAINS.      49 

pale  and  were  slowly  withdrawing  with  profound,  retiring 
reverence,  within  the  mysterious  canopy  of  the  unfathom- 
able firmament,  at  the  approach  of  greater  majesty.  The 
Queen  of  Night  was  coming  up  the  horizon  in  her  full 
Oriental  splendor!  We  turned  towards  the  East,  and 
there,  midway  to  the  zenith,  poised  on  the  darkling  heights 
of  an  intermediate  range  of  the  Atlas  Mountains,  we  saw 
a  moving  object,  within  the  full  moon's  disk:  a  tall  draped 
figure  with  outstretched  arms.  The  train  was  slacking 
speed  and  soon  stood  still.  The  next  instant  my  feet  were 
on  the  earth,  and  I  was  standing  in  the  effulgent  glory. 
Though  my  vestments  were  dark,  they  seemed  white  from 
the  reflected  moon-beams.  All  was  hushed,  and  I  stood 
transfixed,  transfigured,  in  the  weird  whiteness  and  the 
great  silence.  No  object  was  to  be  seen,  save  one  lone  cy- 
press tree  on  a  distant  hill,  a  natural  minaret  pointing 
toward  Allah.  After  the  long  continued  noise  of  the  train 
the  silence  was  almost  appalling.  Our  fellow-travellers 
were  quiet,  all  seemingly  asleep;  even  the  locomotive  had 
stopped  its  hard  breathing  and  seemed  entering  into 
conscious  repose.  While  I  myself  almost  ceased  to  breathe 
in  the  ecstatic  moment,  there  came  softly  and  with 
winning  cadence,  a  far-off  voice  from  the  mountain 
heights,  as  from  out  a  high  invisible  minaret  which 
pointed  up  toward  the  Pleiades,  far,  far  above  the  illumi- 
nated dome  of  this  mighty  midnight  cathedral  which 
spanned  the  universe  with  all  its  worlds  of  light,  con- 
verging to  the  undiscovered  centre  where  Jehovah  dwells. 

Man  builds  and  rebuilds  his  temples  for  a  day— 

awhile  to  pray; 
God  builds  but  one,  the  everlasting  dome 

that  compasses  eternity: 
No  minaret  points  thereup,  for  He  is  highest ; 
No  altar,  for  the  consummated  sacrifice  is  there: 


5<D  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

No  sun,  nor  moon,  nor  stars :  He  is  the  Omnipresent 

Light: 
Nor  prayer  prolonged, — for  love  has  done  its  perfect 

work. 

The  voice  was  calling  in  plaintive  far-sounding  sup- 
plication to  God  for  mercy,  and  to  the  earth  for  prayer. 
Slowly  and  softly,  yet  distinctly,  in  ever-deepening  tones 
went  out  the  tender  accent  as  we  stood  spell-bound  in 
the  effulgent  night.  We,  too,  instinctively  raised  our 
hands,  sinking  on  our  knees,  and  murmuring  in  the  ful- 
ness of  our  soul:  "Oh, yes, may  God  in  his  infinite  majesty 
deign  to  look  down  upon  His  wandering,  exiled,  and  smit- 
ten children,  wherever  they  may  be  upon  this  beautiful 
earth — with  pity  and  with  love!" 

Again  and  again  the  mountain  muezzin  called  the  si- 
lent world  to  worship.  Then  the  trembling  voice  died  away, 
and  there  was  no  more  sound — nothing  but  silence — and 
glory — and  adoration. 

Another    object-lesson    of    that    never-to-be-forgotten 
moonlight  scene,  and  experience,  was  two  narrow,  bright, 
parallel  lines,  stretching  from  my  feet,  off  upon  the  convex 
surface  of  the  earth,  into  the  luminous  Southern  night— 
on  and  on,  until  lost  in  its  dissolving  light. 

When  the  pleading  invocation  from  the  mountain  had 
ceased  I  had  walked  forward,  as  was  my  wont,  to  visit 
the  engine-driver,  and  thank  him  for  his  watchful  care 
of  us  through  the  long  night's  run ;  and  also  to  communi- 
cate my  gratitude  to  the  locomotive — to  that  mysterious 
and  divine  energy  bound  in  the  marvellous  machine  which 
is  to  me  the  most  sentient  expression  of  God  through 
brute  force.  This  dumb  creature  of  power,  diligence,  and 
dignity  had  entered  into  worshipful  silence,  giving  thanks, 
also,  in  its  well-merited  repose. 

He  had  gotten  down  from  his  machine  and  sat  on  the 


A  MOONLIGHT  NIGHT  IN  THE  ATLAS  MOUNTAINS.      5! 

earth  to  rest — our  faithful,  smoke-blackened  engineer, — 
his  cap  in  his  hand  to  cool  his  head — the  motor-machine  of 
all  man's  constructions — and  was  looking  straight  into 
the  face  of  the  full  moon:  for  if  the  inferior  machine  of 
iron  needs  lubricating  oil  to  do  its  work,  so  the  divine 
machine  of  the  human  brain  needs  holy  ointment  of  in- 
spiration to  keep  it  to  its  duty. 

Now  I  was  attracted  by  the  two  shining  parallel  lines 
before  me;  but  as  I  passed  the  engineer,  I  thought  how, 
as  a  tired  child  instinctively  seeks  its  mother's  restful 
bosom,  so  man,  when  worn  and  spent,  seeks  the  bosom  of 
mother  earth;  and  when  too  worn  and  spent  for  larger 
life-work  he  lays  him  down  content  to  let  the  human  ma- 
chine sleep  forever  in  her  breast  from  whence  he  came, 
while  the  motor  force  returns  to  the  Eternal  Generating 
Source,  for  larger  action  and  grander  achievements. 

I  passed  our  engineer  in  respectful  silence:  he,  too, 
was  worshipping. 

I  had  taken  only  a  few  steps  when  across  my  path  I 
discovered  a  human  form,  prone  in  prayer  upon  the  earth. 
It  was  the  Arab  stoker,  keeping  the  vigil.  The  engineer 
was  a  Christian,  the  stoker  was  a  Mussulman.  How 
naturally  the  Moslem  takes  the  humbler  position  in  wor- 
ship, where  there  is  no  place  for  pride  or  self  in  his  grand 
and  simple  religion.  I  walked  slowly  on  musing  by  those 
parallel  lines,  far  down  the  track,  alone,  in  the  glorifying 
moonlight — keeping  the  engineer  and  the  stoker  in  my 
pondering.  ..  ."And  the  last  shall  be  first  and  the  first 
last" — and  the  white  shall  be  darker,  and  the  black  man 
whiter;  our  gardens  of  to-day  shall  be  laid  waste,  and 
these  deserts  shall  flourish — as  was  promised  aforetime 
....and  the  civilized  man  who  is  barbarian  shall  give 
place  to  the  barbarian  who  is  civilized ....  and  the  pagan 
who  was  Christian  shall  teach  the  Christian  who  is  pagan 
....  and  gold  shall  be  at  par  with  righteousness,  and  cap- 


52  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

italists  will  invest  love  in  men's  virtue  and  happiness.  . .  . 
and  these  natives  with  lank  arms  shall  plant  trees  in 
these  deserts,  inviting  the  overworked  brethren  of  the 
cities  to  come  to  this  soil,  enriched  by  joint  labor.  .  .  .and 
our  great  conglomerate  cities — Paris,  London,  Berlin,  and 
New  York — shall  be  purged  and  perfected,  or  laid  waste 
like  Babylon,  or  sink  in  the  dead  sea  of  iniquity,  like 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah!  Then — for  now  I  was  far  away 
in  the  white  light,  alone  in  the  glorified  night — my 
prayer  burst  aloud  and  I  cried  unto  God:  "O  Heavenly 
Father,  hasten  the  day  when  light  shall  dispel  the  dark- 
ness that  envelops  this  beautiful  earth,  and  when  men 
shall  live  together  in  peace,  health,  and  happiness,  being 
sober  and  chaste  as  they  expect  women  to  be;  when  wo- 
men shall  be  happy  because  they  are  virtuous,  and  when 
children  shall  be  obedient  to  parents.  . .  .then — then  there 
will  pass  over  these  parallel  lines  other  parallel  lines  of 
rectified  manhood  and.  perfected  womanhood;  and  then 

—then  shall  the  great  parallelogram  of  forces — science 
and  religion — no  longer  be  a  figure  of  mathematical 
speech,  but  of  ethics;  all  men  living  together  in  harmony 
and  working  joyfully  for  mutual  happiness,  as.  do  our 
Christian  engineer  and  Mussulman  stoker  on  this  African 
railway,  and  worshipping,  as  they  do  in  this  glorious  night 
in  the  heart  of  the  African  mountains .  . .  . " 

Thus  ran  my  musings,  linking  man  into  circumstances 
and  all  into  the  Great  Centre.  .  .  .And  thus  there  is  re- 
lation between  the  "man  in  the  moon" — dead  and  deserted 

—whom  we  have  contemplated  all  our  lives  with  sym- 
pathetic wonder,  and  the  silhouette  of  an  Arab  with  up- 
lifted hands  in  its  disk,  hung  on  the  peak  of  a  lone  Atla«s 
mountain,  and  the  parallel  lines  of  a  railway  on  its  high 
barren  plateau:  the  same  relation  that  exists  between  us 
and  the  grain  of  dust  we  shake  from  our  feet,  knd  the 
sun  into  whose  dazzling  face  we  cannot  gaze,  but  which 


A  MOONLIGHT  NIGHT  IN  THE  ATLAS  MOUNTAINS.      53 

goes  whirling-  forever  on  its  mighty  axis,  coursing  on  in 
its  immeasurable  orbit,  giving  light  and  life  to  the  stars 
and  planets  and  chaining  them  all  in  majestic  cohesion 
—and,  also,  to  angels — and  to  the  plant  that  grows  in 
the  sick  girl's  window;  the  same  relation  that  exists  be- 
tween the  aerolite  that  flies  through  our  firmament  of 
raining  stars  and  the  tear,  the  torrent,  the  whirlwind;  the 
sea,  the  conception  of  every  child  born  into  time,  the 
stroke  of  every  pen  or  hammer,  the  building  of  empires 
and  the  downfall  of  governments, — the  obedience  of  Pleia- 
des and  also  of  children;  drawing  all  things  to  Him — for 
there  is  nothing  else  in  the  whole  universe,  nor  ever  can 
be,  but  the  "I  AM  THAT  I  AM." 

Thus  I  went  musing  in  the  white  moonlight :  "And  O, 
if  there  be  anywhere,  within  the  eternal  cosmos,  a  planet 
or  star  in  which  the  ineffable  hope  of  eternal  life  and  love 
are  unknown;  O,  that  we  of  this  beautiful  world  may  be 
able  to  send,  in  some  not  distant  cycle,  our  locomotive  of 
ideal  achievements  with  great  spreading  wings  bending 
down  over  the  earth, — with  Religion  as  engineer,  clothed 
in  an  ample  mantle  of  charity,  with  white,  sweet  face 
and  eager  eyes,  looking  forward  and  upward — workful, 
earnest  and  joyful, — and  Science  as  stoker — transparent 
with  divine  electricity,  sending  off,  every  whither,  scinti- 
lations  of  love,  enlightening  the  world,  having  a  heart  in 
its  breast;  that  the  perfected  and  infinite  machine,  sweep- 
ing, flying  down  these  bending  steel  lines  with  such 
mighty  momentum,  may  leap  the  horizon,  and  convey 
the  glad  tidings .  .  .  .  ! 

And  thus  did  the  voice  of  the  Muezzin  in  the  disk 
of  the  moon,  and  the  railway  lines  across  the  Haut  Pla- 
teau, run  parallel  lines  through  my  heart  and  imagina- 
tion on  that  African  night  in  the  lone  Atlas  Mountains. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN. 

BETWEEN  Oran  and  Tlemcen  we  were  shown  a 
pretty  town,  built  for  the  natives,  by  Cardinal  La- 
vigerie.  This  Roman  prelate  was  an  old  classmate  of 
Pere  Hyacinthe  at  the  Ecclesiastical  Seminary  of  Saint 
Sulpice  in  Paris,  which  naturally  added  interest  for  us  to 
his  career  in  Africa  where  he  lived  many  years  and  where 
he  began  his  mission  by  trying  to  convert  Mussulmans  to 
Romanism.  Having  signally  failed,  he  ceased  all  such 
attempts  and  wisely  concluded  that  the  only  way  to  con- 
vert the  natives  is  to  take  them  as  soon  as  they  are  born, 
before  they  are  imbued  with  Islamism.  So,  after  a  terrible 
famine  in  1886,  he  gathered  up  a  goodly  number  of  orphan 
children  from  the  nomadic  tribes  and  provided  them  with 
this  fixed  home,  in  pretty  white-washed  houses,  straight 
streets,  and  planted  trees,  and  gave  them  gardens,  all  of 
which  were  excellent  and  promising. 

We  were  shown  this  village  by  a  Frenchman  who  had 
resided  here  for  forty  years,  and  who,  in  reply  to  our  ex- 
clamation, "What  a  pretty  town!"  replied,  "Yes,  it  is 
pretty  on  the  outside,  but  the  people  are  mostly  drunk- 
ards!" 

Monsignor  Lavigerie  had  broken  from  the  simple  sober 
Moslem  habits  and  unwisely  determined,  while  making 
them  Christians,  to  make  them  Frenchmen  and  Romanists 
as  well.  This  proved  a  deplorable  failure.  To  his  honor 


^IS% 

/TV    v 

£&/.• 


ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN.  55 

we  must  say  he  never  built  another  perverted  Moslem 
town,  but  turned  his  attention  to  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  trade  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  a  grander  work  than 
trying  to  convert  Mussulmans.  It  was  this  Roman  pre- 
late who,  at  a  banquet  in  Algiers,  pronounced  the  famous 
toast  recommending  the  French  Republic  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  France,  who  by  majority  were  at  heart  Royal- 
ists or  Imperialists.  This  toast  flashed  consternation  or 
joy  over  the  whole  Catholic  world.  Of  course,  as  Cardinal 
Lavigerie  was  the  intimate  adviser  of  the  Pope,  this  new 
departure  had  doubtless  been  arranged  between  them, 
and  to  attenuate  the  shock,  it  was  necessary  to  launch  the 
thunderbolt  from  a  distance !  Leo  XIII  may  not  have  been 
altogether  a  "Holy  Father/'  but  he  was  a  holy  politician, 
whenever  he  tried  thus  to  recommend  and  consecrate  the 
principles  of  liberty.  From  this  incident  arose  great  pro- 
test and  clamor;  and  I  heard  devout  Catholics  cry  with 
consternation,  "The  Pope! — he  is  the  Anti-Christ!" 

I  had  drunk  in  the  mystic  air  and  calming  influence 
of  this  grand  but  melancholy  nature  during  the  long  rest- 
ful days  in  the  train,  on  the  haut  plateau  of  the  Atlas 
Mountains,  and  the  night  was  far  advanced  when,  in  the 
great  upper  silence,  and  beneath  the  innumerable  stars, 
which  seem  more  at  home  here  in  the  southern  skies  than 
in  our  northern  latitudes,  and  whose  glorious  radiance 
made  the  now  moonless  sky  almost  as  bright  as  day — we 
quietly  stopped  at  Tlemcen. 

From  among  the  natives  who  thronged  the  platform 
and  who  seemed  like  phantoms  in  their  white  drapery,  a 
dark  figure  stepped  out  and  clasped  our  hands  before  we 
could  descend  from  the  train.  It  was  Monsieur  Eldin, 
the  French  pastor  of  the  town,  who  had  persuaded  us  to 
come  to  this  far-away,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  us  at  first, 
out-of-the-world  place.  From  the  moment  of  our  arrival 


56  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

to  the  hour  of  our  departure  his  kindly  care  and  intelligent 
forethought  accompanied  us. 

With  our  recent  experience  of  the  night  at  Affreville 
we  were  greatly  astonished  at  finding  our  hotel  here  fairly 
up  to  modern  times,  almost  overdone  in  fact;  for  so  full 
of  sofas  and  arm  chairs  and  all  sorts  of  fancy  tables  and 
bric-a-brac  were  our  large  rooms,  that  we  had  scarcely 
space  to  move  about.  And  such  variegated  lamps,  and 
carpets,  and  rugs,  and  such  high  excellent  beds,  and 
everything  so  comfortable  and  clean,  and  the  Arab  ser- 
vants quiet  and  tidy  always  at  their  posts  and  ready  to 
serve  you: — all  was  delightful. 

Before  retiring  we  looked  again  from  our  windows 
into  the  great  blazing  firmament,  and  I  could  not  refrain 
from  exclaiming,  ''Oh,  let  us  remain  here  forever  among 
the  stars !" 

Tlemcen. 

Tlemcen  dates  far  back  before  the  Christian  era,  and 
is  spoken  of  by  Pliny  and  other  ancient  historians.  A 
Roman  province  of  importance  under  the  Caesars,  its  an- 
tiquity and  influence  are  evident  to-day  by  majestic  ruins 
and  numerous  inscriptions.1  The  situation  is  beautiful; 
on  an  eminence  commanding  a  fine  cultivated  country, 
undulating  to  the  distant  heights  of  the  higher  Atlas. 
Though  it  is  mid-winter,  the  extensive  groves  of  olive 
trees,  the  blooming  roses  and  other  flowers,  with  all  their 
sweet  perfumes,  and  over  all  the  soft  sunlight,  make  it  a 
perpetual  spring.  Its  climate  is  dry  and  delightful 

France  had  long  been  an  ally  of  the  Arabs  in  North 
Africa  against  the  Turks  and  Moors,  but  in  1830  arose 
the  warlike  difference  between  her  and  the  great  Arab 
Emir,  Abd-el-Kader,  who  sought  to  make  Tlemcen  his 
capital,  as  it  was  of  its  ancient  sultans.  Of  the  cruel  and 


ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN.  57 

heroic  death  of  French  and  Arab  soldiers  in  this  long  war 
we  can  only  say  that  the  African  chief  was  finally  con- 
quered, after  the  most  heroic  defence,  on  the  3Oth  of  Jan- 
uary, 1842,  and  thenceforth  France  took  definite  posses- 
sion of  the  country.  And  to  the  high  honor  of  the  great 
Arab  chieftain  let  us  state,  that  ever  after  this  victory 
France  had  never  a  more  loyal  defender  than  Abd-el- 
Kader,  and  his  loyalty  has  descended  to  his  posterity. 
As  to  their  moral  and  religious  status  I  will  relate  an  in- 
cident concerning  one  of  them. 

We  recently  met  two  of  the  Emir's  grandsons  at  a 
garden  party  in  Algiers,  where  the  young  people  danced. 
These  two  young  Mussulmans,  dressed  in  the  full  Arab 
costume,  certainly  carried  off  the  palm  of  distinction  in 
the  eyes  of  European  young  ladies,  and  they  were  very 
naturally  invited  to  join  in  the  dancing,  the  charming  crea- 
tures vying  as  to  who  should  have  the  pleasure  .of  being 
their  partners.  To  their  great  disappointment  the  young 
Arabs  declined  to  dance  with  these  ravishing  young  Chris- 
tians, and  one,  in  her  distress,  turned  to  me,  saying :  "You 
have  so  much  influence  with  the  Moslems,  will  you  not 
beg  of  them  to  join  in  our  quadrille  or  in  a  waltz?"  I, 
therefore,  with  no  small  reluctance,  asked  them  if  they 
would  not  give  the  young  ladies  this  pleasure.  They  very 
candidly  yet  modestly  replied:  "We  would  be  very  glad 
to  be  agreeable  to  you,  Madame,  and  to  the  young  ladies, 
but  our  religion  forbids  all  familiarity  with  women,  and 
for  a  man  to  embrace  a  woman,  as  they  do  in  waltzing, 
would  be  not  only  indelicate,  but  immoral."  I  did  not  in- 
sist, nor  did  I  need  a  young  beardless  Mussulman  to  con- 
vince me  of  the  correctness  of  my  own  convictions.  I 
told  them  they  were  right; — alas!  for  the  discomfiture  of 
these  innocent  Christian  young  ladies! 

Have  we  not  something  to  learn  of  Islam  in  moral 


58  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

The  province  of  Tlemcen  now  contains  nearly  90,000 
inhabitants  of  which  only  about  6,500  are  French,  with 
a  preponderance  of  naturalized  Jews  with  right  of  suf- 
frage, leaving  the  immense  majority  of  Arabs,  who  are 
subjects  but  not  naturalized  citizens,  and  the  small  minor- 
ity of  Frenchmen  at  the  mercy  of  the  Israelite  voter.* 
Many  of  these  Jews  are  foreign  born,  and  great  numbers 
of  them  can  neither  read  nor  write  French.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  the  French  and  Arabs  join  in  pro- 
test and  bitter  feeling  toward  them;  and  if  the  Arabs  were 
not  the  best  behaved  and  most  forbearing  people  in  the 
world,  twenty-four  or  forty-eight  hours  at  most  would  be 
sufficient  to  establish  a  more  equitable  balance  of  power. 
As  it  is,  they  are  not  allowed  to  carry  either  arms  or  pow- 
der. This  law  is  the  thorn  in  the  palpitating  flesh  of  Al- 
giers; and  this  antagonism  between  French  and  Jews  is 
the  result  of  an  egregious  fault  of  the  French  government 
and  has  been  a  lamentable  hindrance  to  the  colonization 
and  progress  in  the  North  of  Africa,  where,  as  in  Europe 
and  in  America,  the  spirit  of  caste  and  sect  is  the  greatest 
hindrance  to  the  march  of  humanity  and  the  normal  pro- 
gress of  society.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  wiser  statesman- 
ship of  democratic  France  will  soon  open  up  a  more 
acceptable  modus  Vivendi  for  Algerians.  If  not,  there  will 
be  trouble.f  It  is  the  hair's  breadth  that  deviates  the  track 
which  carries  the  train :  so  it  is  often  the  small  fault  of  a 
single  person  that  causes  families,  churches  or  states  to 
deviate  from  wise  and  righteous  lines  of  conduct. 

The  city  of  Tlemcen  is  unique,  and  as  almost  the  en- 
tire population  is  native,  there  is  a  natural  and  healthy 
love  of  the  open  country.  Their  institutions  are  nomadic, 

*This  is  called  the  "Cremieux  Law"  after  the  name  of  the  Jewish  min- 
ister who  was  its  author  in  the  early  days  of  this  present  Republic. 

t  My  prognostics  were  realised  by  the  disgraceful  anti-Semitic  riots  in 
Algiers  two  years  after  this  was  written.  E.  H.  L. 


ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN.  59 

and  in  building  their  homes  and  towns  they  keep  to  their 
ancestral  traditions;  and  in  this  large  city  most  of  the 
houses  are  of  one  story  only.  The  European  part  of  the 
city  is  well  built,  with  ample  grounds;  but  of  course  the 
Arab  quarter  interested  us  most;  and  never  had  we  seen 
humanity  so  crowded,  and  yet  so  orderly  and  clean;  not 
an  obnoxious  sight,  nor  an  unpleasant  odor.  The  many 
narrow  and  tortuous  streets  of  hard  beaten  earth  present 
none  of  the  nuisances  which  mark  our  so-called  "higher 
civilization,"  and  this  is  universally  the  case  in  all  Mos- 
lem cities  and  dwellings.  Such  is  the  cleanliness  that  the 
white-clad  people  sit  with  impunity  on  the  ground.  The 
adobe  houses,  or  those  made  of  brick,  are  generally  white- 
washed. They  are  built  without  windows  outside,  only 
a  door  leading  into  a  passage,  which  is  always  turned 
at  right  angles  to  prevent  any  indiscretion  of  eyes,  for 
within  is  the  harem,  the  sacred  dwelling  of  women,  few  of 
whom  are  seen  in  the  streets,  and  they  never  gossip  or 
loiter  outside  their  houses.  They  pay  frequent  visits  and 
hold  rendez-vous  with  each  other  outside  of  the  city,  be- 
neath the  shady  trees — especially  on  Friday,  which  is 
their  Sunday,  when  they  meet  for  quiet  converse  in  the 
cemeteries,  from  which,  upon  that  day,  men  are  excluded. 
Moslem  women  are  models  of  propriety  and  decorum. 
They  are  social  and  cheerful,  but  always  quietly  so.  Chil- 
dren are  fond  of  play,  but  there  is  seldom  boisterous  ex- 
hilaration or  ill-humored  dispute.  Obedience  to  parents 
is  instinctive.  Children  are  cleanly  attired,  even  the  poor- 
est; some  are  richly  robed,  but  there  is  no  social  distinc- 
tion ;  the  children  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  being  like  their 
parents  on  terms  of  perfect  equality.  This  equality  does 
not,  however,  efface  noble  birth  or  distinction. 

Social  science  as  understood  and  made  practicable 
among  Moslems  could  be  studied  with  great  profit  by  our 
Christian  and  political  reformers. 


6O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

In  this  family  intercourse  among  Mohammedans  the 
future  marriages  of  children  are  usually  arranged  be- 
tween the  mothers;  and  the  chosen  couple,  knowing  them- 
selves betrothed,  look  upon  each  other  from  childhood, 
in  their  young  love  and  innocence,  as  "little  wife  and  hus- 
band"— the  lad  often  taking  upon  himself,  from  tender 
years,  a  rightful  and  manly  defence  of  his  small  future 
spouse — while  she  is  constantly  put  upon  her  good  beha- 
vior by  her  parents,  to  merit  his  love  and  esteem.  Thus 
the  Moslem  marriage  is  most  frequently  one  of  love  and 
happiness.  But  as  they  approach  the  marriageable  age, 
usually  ten  or  twelve  years  for  the  girl  and  twelve  to 
fourteen  for  the  boy,  the  young  promissi  sposi  are  rigor- 
ously separated  and  the  careful  and  religious  preparations 
begin  for  ultimate  union:  the  three  cardinal  virtues  being 
equally  imposed  upon  both:  religion,  chastity,  paternity, 
or  maternity.  The  girl  is  given  into  the  kind  though  strict 
hands  of  a  "wise  woman"  of  superior  virtue  and  acquire- 
ments, the  boy  into  the  hands  of  an  Imam  or  teacher. 
And  contrary  to  what  we  have  so  often  heard  the  couple 
when  married  are  lovers  of  long  date;  and  I  believe  their 
marriages  are  as  happy,  taking  it  all  in  all,  as  among  so- 
called  Christians.  What  gives  rise  to  the  common  false 
opinion  to  the  contrary  is  that  the  rich  and  travelled  Mos- 
lems often  seek,  through  third  parties,  foreign  wives— 
usually  Turkish,  sometimes  Georgian  or  Circassian  Chris- 
tians. In  these  cases  there  are  necessarily  some  sad  dis- 
appointments;  but  in  the  present  inevitable  advancement 
of  human  rights  of  women,  as  well  as  men,  it  is  now  ordi- 
narily managed  that  the  contracting  parties  can  see  each 
other  by  well-prepared  accident,  usually  from  behind  cur- 
tains or  latticed  windows.  But  if,  when  seeing  each  other 
for  the  first  time  after  the  marriage  ceremony,  there  is 
absolute  repugnance,  or  any  other  sufficient  cause,  divorce 


ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN.  6l 

is  pronounced  without  difficulty  and  immediately,  and  not 
to  the  detriment  or  deconsideration  of  either  party. 

The  women,  when  outside  their  homes,  are  enveloped 
in  the  immense  white  haik,  which  covers  the  whole  per- 
son from  the  eyebrows  to  the  feet,  leaving  but  one  eye 
visible.  Veils  are  not  worn  here  as  in  Algiers  and  Oran, 
the  haik  serving  as  a  complete  covering.  Nor  are  the 
Turkish  trousers  worn  by  the  women  of  Tlemcen,  as  is 
the  style  farther  to  the  East;  but  a  gown  descending  from 
the  shoulders,  half  adjusted  at  the  waist  and  with  flowing 
skirts.  Among  the  humbler  classes  bare  feet  are  com- 
monest out  of  doors,  and  even  the  fine  ladies  in  their 
homes  are  barefooted  or  in  stockings;  their  high-heeled, 
and  often  richly  embroidered  slippers,  like  their  walking 
shoes,  are  left  in  the  court  when  they  enter  their  rooms— 
thus  the  immaculate  carpets  are.  always  fit  for  prayer. 

The  houses  of  the  Jews  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Moslems,  only  instead  of  whitewash,  the  entrance  to  their 
doors  is  usually  in  blue. 

Mussulmans  as  well  as  Christians  have  profound  re- 
sentment for  the  Jews  because  of  their  treatment  of 
Jesus ;  but  with  less  injustice  and  cruelty,  as  they  are  more 
charitable  than  we  are.  Therefore,  here,  as  in  most  large 
cities,  the  Jew  was  formerly  a  pariah,  and  the  ghetto  of 
Tlemcen  consisted  of  cellars  and  caves — a  burrowing  in  the 
ground,  dark,  damp,  and  dismal.  Since  they  have  been 
made  citizens  en  masse,  (which  is  a  great  injustice  for  the 
natives,)  they  live  above,  ground,  as  they  should;  and  be- 
cause of  their  monotheistic  faith,  which  is  equalled  if  not 
surpassed  by  the  Moslems  in  resistance  and  tenacity,  they 
live  in  peace  together.  The  Jews  are,  in  fact,  a  living 
and  continuous  miracle.  Through  all  their  trials  and 
persecutions  they  have  unswervingly  kept  their  faith — 
from  century  to  century,  from  clime  to  clime,  through 
barbarism,  paganism,  and  Christianity,  and  are  still,  and 


62  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

ever  will  remain  the  chosen  people  of  God.  For  this 
they  merit  the  respect  and  consideration  of  all  Christians ; 
and  in  spite  of  their  faults  and  failings  they  have  extra- 
ordinary qualities  and  incontestable  virtues ;  and  we  should 
love  them,  for  they  are  our  brethren — nay  they  are  our 
fathers  who  gave  us  the  divine  book,  not  only  the  Old 
Testament,  but  that  priceless  Jewish  classic,  the  New 
Testament;  and  above  all  they  gave  us  our  Saviour!  and 
if  we  would  obey  His  last  and  imperative  injunction,  we 
must  forgive  the  fanatics  of  the  synagogue  who  slew  Him, 
abetted,  as  they  were,  by  Roman  pagans. 

"Forgive  them!"  He  cried  to  us  out  of  His  great 
love  and  supreme  agony,  "for  they  know  not  what  they 
do!"  And  we  do  not  forgive  them!  And  Christianity  can 
never  be  what  Christ  intended  it  should  be  until  we  do! 
For  in  hating  the  Je\vs  we  deny  the  Christ!  Why  not 
seek  to  help  and  trans  farm  them  'without  any  attempt  at 
proselyting?  If  the  Christ  is  indeed  the  Messiah  prom- 
ised them,  will  He  not  in  His  own  due  time  manifest  Him- 
self so  clearly  that  they  will  believe  ? 

That  the  Jews  are  to  become  more  and  more  a  power- 
ful and  beneficent  factor  among  the  people  of  the  earth, 
I  have  no  doubt;  if — if  they  keep  the  spirit  of  their  grand 
ancient  faith,  which  is  divine,  modifying  the  letter  which 
is  human, — serving  God,  not  Mammon — enlarging  their 
narrow,  exclusive  instinct  of  race  into  larger  humanita- 
rian sympathies  and  relations.  And  if  they  have  fallen 
away  and  have  forsaken  their  pastoral  lives  and  the 
health  and  blessing  of  the  fields,  fleeing  to  cities  for  refuge, 
it  is  our  fault,  our  Christian  persecution !  And  if,  in  the 
ghetto,  they  know  how  to  turn  old  clothes  into  newspapers 
and  old  iron  into  the  golden  calf,  where  is  the  blame?— 
whose  is  the  fault?  We  must  take  them  back  if  we  would 
persuade  them  to  take  back  Jesus — the  Great  Jew !  There 


ORAN  TO  TLEMCEN.  63 

are  happy  signs  coming  up  the  heavens  in  these  our  times, 
of  a  rapprochement  among  the  children  of  the  Father. — 
Every  individual,  whether  Jew,  or  Christian,  or  Moslem, 
can  hasten  the  day  if  he  will. 

[Ash  Wednesday,  1895.  Morning  prayer  for  the  beginning  of  Lent  in 
our  rooms  at  the  Hotel  Afternoon:  drive  to  the  Cascades  and  to  a  park 
named  in  foolish  honor  of  Paris  the  "Bois  de  Boulogne."  and  where, ~on~ the 
famous  tomb  of  Sidi  Yacob  we  saw  Arab  women  sacrificing  chickens  as  a 
cure  for  sterility.] 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TLEMCEN.     THE  GREAT  MOSQUE.     EL-EUBBAD.     MAUSSOURA. 

THE  CADI. 

OUR  first  visit  was  to  the  great  Mosque.  A  happy 
presage  met  our  eyes  as  we  went  into  the  streets : 
Among  the  world  of  minarets  and  domes  above  the  low 
white  city,  there  is  one  minaret  which  bears  on  its  summit 
a  cross  and  a  crescent.  The  mosque  beneath  was  formerly 
a  Christian  church,  and -when  the  Mussulmans  took  pos- 
session of  it,  out  of  respect  for  their  fellow-citizens  and 
their  faith,  they  would  not  demolish  the  cross,  but  simply 
added  thereto  their  celestial  emblem. 

(Query:  Would  we  have  done  the  same?) 
In  spite  of  their  knowledge  of  the  people  and  their 
language,  our  Christian  friends  could  not  aid  us  in  our 
visits  to  certain  sacred  places.  We,  therefore,  engaged 
a  Moslem  dragoman  and  went  to  the  Grand  Mosque,  so 
famous  for  its  antiquity,  architectural  beauty,  and  his- 
torical value.  We  knew  we  could  only  see  the  outside  of 
it,  as  Christians  are  not  allowed  within  its  holy  precincts. 
Djana  Kebir  surpasses  all  the  other  mosques  of  Tlem- 
cen,  by  its  vast  proportions  and  its  riches.  It  is  195  feet 
square,  eight  doors  breaking  the  severity  of  its  white 
walls,  and  is  surmounted  by  its  majestic  rectangular  min- 
aret of  mosaic  in  colored  tiles.  It  was  built  by  the  first 
Moslem  king  of  the  Abd-El'-Quadite  dynasty,  and  bears 
the  date  530  of  the  Hegira  (1136  A.  D.). 


TLEMCEN.       EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  65 

The  king,  when  asked  by  his  subjects  to  inscribe  his 
name  on  the  magnificent  edifice  which  he  had  built,  re- 
plied: "No,  God  knows  it."  (Sublime  commentary  on 
those  almoners  and  builders  who  are  careful  that  their 
names  should  be  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold,  or  graven 
in  the  stone  of  the  edifice  which  belongs  to  God.)  The 
immense  court  is  paved  and  walled  with  onyx,  and  irLthe 
midst  of  it  is  the  great  fountain  for  ablution,  made  of 
fine  transparent  alabaster;  72  onyx  columns  support  its 
architrave,  which  forms  shelter  for  the  faithful  outside 
the  mosque.  This  is  sacred  ground  for  Moslem  men  alone, 
so  we  were  only  allowed  a  furtive  glance  from  without, 
through  a  postern  door.  All  that  our  dragoman  could 
say,  or  that  we  could  see  or  express  in  supplicating  ges- 
ture, was  without  a  shadow  of  effect  upon  the  stoical 
guardian.  "No  Christian  can  enter  here,"  was  the  reply; 
and  when  I  persisted  in  sympathetic  appeal,  he  replied 
as  if  somewhat  scandalized,  that  "no  woman,  not  even 
the  most  devout  Moslem  woman,  had  ever  crossed  its 
threshold;"  so  it  was  doubly  impossible  for  me.  And, 
moreover,  it  was  the  solemn  service  of  the  Ramedan,  (the 
great  Moslem  fast  of  thirty  days,)  and  the  sacristan  was 
more  anxious  to  participate  therein  than  to  continue  our 
interview;  so  we  turned  away,  sorely  disappointed  at  not 
being  allowed,  even  with  unshodden  feet,  to  enter  the 
court  of  this  far-famed  mosque. 

"At  least,"  I  said,  "we  will  let  these  good  Moslems 
know  that  they  have  turned  from  their  door  two  Chris- 
tian friends ;  let  us  leave  our  cards  for  the  Grand  Mufti." 

We  gave  them  to  the  imperturbable  custodian  and 
were  retracing  our  steps  along  the  narrow  streets,  when 
suddenly  we  were  recalled  by  the  same  man  running  after 
us,  carrying  two  chairs,  and  his  face  beaming  with  a 
very  different  expression.  He  explained  that  as  soon  as 
he  gave  our  cards  to  the  Grand  Mufti,  who  was  just 


66  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

about  to  mount  the  pulpit  to  preach,  he  was  told  to  hasten 
after  us  and  bring  us  back.  Our  dragoman  was  filled 
with  astonishment.  We  returned  very  gladly,  and  sandals 
were  put  upon  our  feet  by  ready  hands,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  court.  It  is  needless  to  say  we  were  both  greatly 
surprised  and  delighted  at  being  admitted  thus  far,  but 
our  surprise  became  stupefaction  when  we  were  led 
straight  across  it  into  the  Mosque  itself!  Our  chairs 
were  placed  in  the  midst  of  two  thousand  worshippers, 
prone  on  their  faces. 

We  could  scarcely  believe  in  our  existence — or  were 
we  not  dreaming?  A  profound  silence  reigned  in  the 
edifice,  and  through  the  dim  religious  atmosphere,  with 
that  broad  enclosed  field  of  white-clothed  worshippers, 
prostrate  around  us,  we  felt  a  great  Beneficent  and  All- 
Pervading  Presence;  and  in  deep  and  tearful  gratitude 
to  Him  whom  we  felt  was  there,  and  who  had  thus  opened 
this  forbidden  temple  to  us,  and  also  the  hearts  of  its 
people,  we  sank  on  our  knees  and  hid  our  faces — worship- 
ping also ....  Never  have  we  felt  more  deeply  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  faith  in  One,  True,  Only,  and  Living  God — 
and  His  Immense  and  Universal  Love. 

Suddenly,  yet  noiselessly,  as  one  man,  all  the  wor- 
shippers arose  from  their  faces  and  stood  with  hands  up- 
lifted toward  Heaven,  and  in  low  cadenced  voices  besought 
the  continued  mercy  and  blessing  of  Allah!  Our  drago- 
man, who  was  also  on  his  knees  beside  us,  whispered  these 
things  softly  in  our  ears,  that  we  might  follow  the  service 
which  was  liturgic  but  very  simple ;  and  in  lieu  of  prayer- 
book  they  all  held  their  open  hands  before  their  faces  in 
semblance  of  the  book,  and  in  unison  recited  the  Koran, 
which  many  knew  by  heart.  For  to  the  Moslem,  books 
of  prayer  are  no  more  necessary  for  worship  than  are 
mosques  or  buildings  of  any  kind;  for  wherever  there  is 
earth  or  sky,  there  is  God's  temple ;  and  as  for  the  sacred 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  67 

book,  its  texts  are,  from  infancy,  graven  upon  their  mem- 
ories. What  an  immense  advantage  over  our  printed 
rubric,  rite,  or  ritual! 

We  understood  and  followed  the  prayers  though  we 
were  strangers  to  their  language,  thanks  to  Him  who 
taught  us  the  supreme  formula,  which  of  course  is  al- 
ways and  everywhere  appropriate;  and  never  did  we 
utter  it  with  profounder  feeling  than  in  this  mosque,  pray- 
ing with  these  Moslems :  "Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven." 

The  sermon  was  incomprehensible,  save  in  the  tones 
and  gestures,  which  were  eloquent  and  imposing.  It  lasted 
about  an  hour,  and  then,  with  a  common  recital  of  the 
closing  invocation,  the  vast  multitude  withdrew  enveloped 
as  with  their  white  robes,  in  religious  silence. 

And  now  occurred  another  strange  incident  in  this 
altogether  strange  experience:  As  we  had  been  placed  in 
the  middle  of  the  mosque,  the  whole  congregation  passed 
by  us  as  they  went  out.  We  were  prepared  at  least  for 
some  expression  of  surprise  in  looks — perhaps  in  words — 
at  our  presence,  which  we  well  knew  was  against  all 
custom,  law,  or  liking.  But  not  a  single  eye  was  turned 
toward  us,  not  even  a  furtive  glance,  and  yet  our  presence 
was  certainly  apparent  to  all,  for  we  stood  while  the 
whole  congregation  went  past,  and  our  dark  foreign  dress, 
the  uncovered  head  of  Pere  Hyacinthe  (Moslems  never 
remove  their  turbans),  particularly  the  form  of  a  woman 
where  no  woman  had  ever  stood  before, — could  not  fail 
to  be  observed.  It  was  enigmatical ;  for  in  spite  of  all  this 
imperturbable  demeanor,  we  felt  that  they  knew  we  were 
there,  and  we  felt  also,  that  there  was  no  hostility  on  their 
part,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  but  instead,  a  kindly 
welcome  and  an  inexpressible  communion  of  souls.  To 
explain  this  unique  departure  from  their  centuries  of  ex- 
clusion and  their  friendly  attitude,  we  must  state  that, 
though  we  had  arrived  only  the  night  before,  yet  with  that 


68  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

magical  rapidity  of  communication — the  secret  of  which 
is  known  only  to  Moslems — everybody  in  the  city  was 
aware  of  our  presence;  furthermore,  we  had  been  an- 
nounced as  friends— true,  unmistakable  friends.  ( In  these 
days  when  science  has  proven  mind  communication,  at 
great  distances,  by  wireless  telegraphy — may  not  science 
of  religion  begin  to  observe  the  fact  of  telepathic  com- 
munications between  souls?)  So  when  we  were  seen,  or 
rather  felt,  in  their  midst — even  within  their  holiest  of 
places — these  Arabs,  with  their  swift  intuition,  knew  at 
once  who  and  what  we  were.  Then,  as  their  highest  mark 
of  respect  to  those  whom  they  venerate,  and  above  all  to 
women,  is  to  shelter  them  from  the  public  gaze,  they  ap- 
peared thus  courteously  unconscious  of  our  presence.  This 
delicacy  of  sentiment  is  almost  impossible  to  be  under- 
stood or  conveyed  to  the  Occidental  mind. 

The  Grand  Mufti  to  whom  we  had  sent  our  cards  as 
we  were  turned  away  from  the  Grand  Mosque,  and  to 
whom  we  brought  letters,  called  to  see  us  the  next  day; 
and  after  what  had  passed  the  day  previous,  we  were 
scarcely  surprised  but  very  much  gratified  at  his  large 
views  and  liberal  principles,  which  he  had  so  signally  ex- 
emplified in  breaking  away  from  time-honored  rule  and 
custom — and  in  such  a  flagrant  manner.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  had  we  entered  the  Grand  Mosque  at  Tlemcen 
before  the  French  occupation,  we  should  never  have  left 
it  alive;  or  rather — though  we  had  been  an  armed  host 
and  with  sword  and  banners — we  should  never  have  en- 
tered it.  Since  the  conquest,  the  French  government  is 
held  in  perfect  loyalty  and  esteem  by  the  Arabs.  The 
Grand  Mufti  was  very  courteous  and  anxious  to  render 
us  all  the  help  he  could  in  our  study  of  the  marvels  of 
Tlemcen.  He  had  already  done  what  no  other  person 
could  do,  and  we  shall  ever  hold  him  in  grateful  remem- 
brance for  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  satisfactory 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  69 

experiences  in  his  life — or  in  ours.  He  is  a  strong  and  fine 
looking  man  of  Turkish  extraction,  and  is  distinguished 
for  his  administrative  capacity  in  his  large  diocese.  He 
evidently  does  things  his  own  way,  and  his  parishioners 
give  willing  consent.  In  taking  leave  of  us  at  our  hotel, 
he  kindly  informed  me  that  the  ladies  of  the  family  would 
be  very  happy  to  receive  me.  I  called  the  next  day  upon 
them  and  regretted  not  finding  the  wife  at  home,  as  she 
was  at  the  funeral  of  a  relative;  but  I  was  received  by 
their  eldest  daughter,  who  seemed  a  well  developed  girl 
of  sixteen,  with  soft  white  and  rose  complexion,  henna- 
tipped  fingers,  and  great  elongated  Oriental  eyes.  She 
was,  however,  but  twelve  years  old  and  already  married. 
She  was  dressed  in  a  pretty  pink  and  white  gown,  hanging 
loosely  from  the  shoulders  and  evidently  made  by  her  own 
young  hands.  She  wore  a  fortune  of  gold  medals  about 
her  neck  and  upon  her  bosom,  and  silver  anklets  about  her 
bare  feet.  Though  so  young  and  absolutely  inexperienced 
in  the  outer  world,  she  received  me  with  the  united  natural 
grace  of  childlike  womanhood  and  the  older  spouse.  She 
showed  me  over  the  house,  an  ancient  Moorish  structure, 
which,  for  simplicity,  quite  outdid  any  Christian  Mufti's 
I  have  ever  seen.  Order  and  cleanliness  reigned  every- 
where. Our  only  means  of  conversation  was  by  smiles, 
sympathetic  nods,  and  friendly  gestures ;  but  we  succeeded 
very  well  and  both  enjoyed  it.  What  was  very  remark- 
able was  the  manner  in  which  she  entertained  me  and 
carried  on,  at  the  same  time,  the  preparations  for  the  late 
supper.  The  hour  for  breaking  the  fast  of  the  Ramedan 
is  when  the  twilight  has  so  deepened  that  the  color  of  a 
white  and  black  thread  suspended  in  the  air  cannot  be 
distinguished.  I  observed  the  extreme  frugality  of  the 
repast:  but  one  dish  of  herbs:  a  sort  of  coarse  thistle, 
mixed  with  a  kind  of  grain.  (Still  an  object  lesson  for  our 
Lenten  Season .  . .  . )  Very  simple  are  the  necessities  of 


7O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

existence  to  these  people  who  come  through  centuries  of 
the  frugality  of  desert  life.  They  need  none  of  our  modern 
appurtenances.  Therein  lies  one  great  reason  of  their  con- 
tent— a  virtue  which  we  have  not,  with  all  our  progress 
and  improvements. 

We  visited  the  sacred  town  of  El-Eubbad,  about  two 
miles  from  Tlemcen.  It  is  a  mass  of  majestic  ruins,  cling- 
ing to  the  rocky,  ragged  knees  of  the  mountain,  with  its 
high,  superb  minaret  commanding  the  whole  country,  in 
proud  defiance  of  the  Christian  world;  and  yet,  so  Islamic, 
so  religious  is  the  atmosphere,  the  town  has  an  air  of 
humble  resignation  to  Him  whose  footstool  is  the  earth 
and  according  to  the  formula  written  and  used  every- 
where, "whose  mercy  and  pity  endureth  forever."  Cross- 
ing plains  of  olive  orchards,  we  must  leave  our  carriage 
beside  the  babbling  brook,  for  only  pedestrians  and  don- 
keys can  climb  the  steep  and  broken  streets:  through  ra- 
vines, choked  with  broken  vines,  cacti  and  pomegranates, 
straggling  trees  and  struggling  humanity  in  tattered  gar- 
ments. Few  men  and  not  a  woman  to  be  seen,  but  so 
many  children !  It  is  the  dwelling  of  desolation — and  yet, 
what  a  paradox:  all  the  people  we  see  seem  content,  and 
the  little  ones  are  certainly  happy.  Surely  there  is  some- 
thing else  here  besides  ruin  and  desolation.  Let  us  see. 
It  is  certainly  not  prosperity,  in  any  human  sense.  It  is 
that  which  needs  not  prosperity  for  happiness :  It  is  Faith, 
it  is  Islam,  which  signifies  Resignation. 

After  much  fatigue  we  arrived  at  the  peristyle  of  the 
Grand  Mosque  and  at  the  foot  of  the  colossal  minaret 
which  lifts  itself  up,  a  magnificent  sign  of  past  glory,  and 
the  signal  for  never-ceasing  prayer  for  all  the  land. 

El-Eubbad  is  a  venerated  shrine  for  all  Moslems.  In 
the  treaty  of  its  surrender  to  French  rule  it  was  stipulated 
that  no  Christian  should  dwell  within  its  holy  precincts, 
and  here  certainly  we  felt  like  outsiders,  yet  with  an  in- 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.      MAUSSOURA.  7 1 

timate  and  affectionate  kinship  with  every  individual  we 
met.  Ah !  blessed  communion  of  souls  in  the  high  lineage 
of  Faith.  Language,  race,  color,  clime,  and  age  are 
naught  in  this  sweet,  mysterious,  intangible  Oneness  in 
Him  who  is  All-in-all. 

The  holy  places  here  in  this  mountain  of  debris  are 
three:  the  Koubba  or  tomb  of  the  Marabout,  Sidi-Bou- 
Medin,  a  celebrated  Moslem  saint;  the  renowned  Medersa 
or  Theological  College,  now  abandoned  but  still  showing 
its  former  importance,  and  occupied  at  the  present  time 
by  an  elementary  school;  and  lastly,  the  magnificent 
Mosque. 

The  size  of  this  last  is  immense  and  most  imposing. 
Here  we  find  the  choicest  Arabic  art,  in  building  and 
sculpture:  in  stone,  brass  and  cedar.  We  encountered 
here  a  most  interesting  personage,  a  venerable  Sheik,  who 
was  also  an  important  government  functionary.  He  was 
a  most  learned  and  devout  Mussulman,  and  has  a  wide 
reputation  for  never  speaking  except  in  parable.  In  looks, 
manners,  and  speech  he  is  a  perfect  representative  of  the 
Old  Testament.  We  had  with  us  an  English  Protestant 
missionary  who  spoke  Arabic  well,  but  was  evidently 
looked  upon  with  distrust  by  this  Moslem  devotee.  We 
were  greatly  astonished  by  the  scriptural  knowledge  of 
the  venerable  Arab,  and  confounded  by  his  parables,  in 
which  at  our  parting  he  eulogised  our  study  and  apprecia- 
tion of  Islam,  but  bade  us,  forcibly,  to  beware  of  the  mis- 
sionary— repeating  over  and  over  again :  "Be  not  deceived 
by  pretended,  zeal"-— yet  in  such  kindly  terms  and  with 
such  gentle  courtesy  that  one  could  scarcely  tell  which 
predominated,  the  Christian  gentleman  or  the  prophetic 
sage.  To  see  him  swathed  and  turbaned  in  spotless  white 
woolen  raiment,  and  with  his  long  snowy  beard,  it  was 
difficult  to  believe  him  to  be  an  officer  of  the  French  Re- 
public and  a  defender  of  the  Code  Napoleon!  He  was. 


72  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

however;  not  a  citizen,  only  a  subject.     But  when  one  is 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  God  and  His  Justice  and  Charity— 
what  lovely  adaptation  to  time,  men,  and  circumstance 
can  be  made,  and  without  relinquishing  an  iota  of  prin- 
ciple ! 

Another  May-like  day  we  visited  the  immense  ruins 
of  Maussoura,  four  or  five  miles  in  another  direction,  and 
more  in  the  plains.  This  day  we  had  for  guides  one  of 
the  principal  citizens,  a  Christian  merchant,  and  the  ladies 
of  his  family. 

Maussoura  was  once  a  great  fortified  city,  built  by  the 
soldiers  of  a  Sultan,  in  defence  against  another.  Its  pal- 
aces, gardens,  and  above  all  its  great  mosque,  made  it 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  But  after  the  comple- 
tion of  this  prodigious  and  expensive  work,  and  after  only 
four  years  of  occupation  by  the  sovereign  builder  with  his 
people  and  army,  peace  was  declared,  the  city  was  entirely 
evacuated  and  abandoned,  and  has  gradually  fallen  into 
ruin.  The  immense  rectangular  walls  still  mark  its  limits, 
and  over  all  stands  one  of  the  highest  and  most  beautiful 
minarets  in  all  Islam.  The  mosque  from  which  it  rises, 
and  where  ten  thousand  worshippers  can  kneel  in  prayer, 
is  in  ruins,  or  rather  has  been  demolished  to  build  the  ad- 
joining towns;  but  the  monumental  portico  remains,  and 
the  lone  square  minaret  leaps  up  into  the  air  a  magnificent 
column,  which,  when  touched  by  the  sun  as  we  saw  it, 
flashes  with  intense  brilliancy  with  all  the  brightest  colors 
of  the  marvellous  mosaic  in  Moorish  tiles — imitating, 
though  magnifying  a  thousand  times,  every  imaginable 
gem.  Unfortunately,  by  earthquake  or  faulty  construc- 
tion, it  is  riven  from  the  base  to  the  summit,  and  half  of  it 
is  fallen,  leaving  one  side  of  the  great  tower  rugged  and 
broken,  while  the  other  is  polished  like  a  jewel.  Happily 
the  French  government  looks  after  her  antique  monu- 
ments with  care — in  the  colonies  as  at  home — and  this 


TLEMCEN.       EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  73 

ruin,  as  well  as  that  of  El-Eubbad  and  others,  are  well 
stayed  and  preserved. 

The  Moslem  story  of  the  ruined  minaret  is  this:  The 
Sultan  being  anxious  to  attain  its  rapid  completion,  em- 
ployed Jews  and  Christians,  as  well  as  Moslems,  in  its 
building.  But  soon  after  it  was  finished,  Allah  being  dis- 
pleased that  such  a  noble  and  holy  work  should  be  defiled 
by  the  unclean  hands  of  infidel  builders,  smote  down  the 
heretical  side ;  while  the  other  stands  like  adamant,  beauti- 
ful and  enduring!  The  legend  is  certainly  interesting. 

With  the  exception  of  Carcassone,  in  the  south  of 
France,  we  have  seen  no  ruins  of  these  later  centuries  to 
be  compared  with  those  of  Maussoura. 

A  celestial  phenomenon  marked  for  us  this  day  and 
visit.  As  we  stood  in  the  sun's  declining  though  effulgent 
rays,  beneath  the  high  arch  of  the  portico,  there  appeared, 
spanning  the  sky,  a  triple  rainbow,  whose  intensity  sur- 
passed anything  that  could  be  imagined,  springing  from 
the  ruin  at  our  feet  and  bending  high  over  the  wide- 
stretching  plain  and  over  the  mountains,  far  into  the  des- 
ert beyond.  We  stood  spell-bound  in  silence.  It  seemed  to 
us,  in  the  mystic  reading  of  God's  Royal  Book  of  Nature, 
an  indubitable  sign  of  His  benediction  upon  Africa — from 
its  ancient  ruins  of  Islam  to  its  desert  waste,  yet  to  be 
peopled  and  brought  into  the  order  of  civilisation.  As  we 
glanced  upward  to  the  dizzy  height  of  the  majesic  minaret, 
it  seemed  to  have  redoubled  all  the  marvellous  coloring 
of  the  bow  of  promise,  as  if  it,  too,  would  mark  its  faith 
in  God's  promise,  which  says,  "I  will  build  you  up  into 
new  light  if  ye  will  keep  my  commandments/' 

Monuments,  cities,  dynasties,  and  the  earth  itself  shall 
pass  away,  but  He  and  His  promise  will  remain  forever. 

That  wras  our  Rainbow  Day,  the  25th  of  February, 

1895. 

Chaid-Ben  Abd-Allah,  the  Moslem  Judge  of  Tlemcen, 


74  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  of  the  Royal  Order 
of  Wasa,  etc.,  etc.,  and  member  of  many  scientific  societies 
of  Europe  and  Africa,  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
of  Algiers ;  whose  learning  places  him  among  the  savants 
of  our  day.  At  a  recent  European  scientific  congress-, 
where  every  member  is  expected  to  present  a  thesis  on 
one  particular  branch  of  science  or  art,  this  Arab  Cadi 
of  Tlemcen  presented  twenty  !-upon  subjects  ranging  from 
electricity  to  music.  Science  is,  however,  only  a  pastime 
with  him;  or  rather,  I  should  say,  a  secondary  calling. 
He  is  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city;  and  in  that  office, 
which  is  at  once  the  highest  and  the  humblest,  he  devotes 
himself  to  the  welfare  of  his  people.  To  avoid  conflict 
between  Jews,  Christians,  and  -the  native  subjects,  whose 
principles  exclude  them  from  suffrage,  is  no  easy  matter, 
as  the  Code  Napoleon  and  the  Koran  must  both  be  taken 
into  account  and  amicably  adjusted.  Happily,  there  is 
always  a  right  way  to  do  the  right  thing,  however  difficult 
it  may  be. 

Islam  is  a  great  republic — without  a  president;  or,  to 
be  more  exact,  a  universal  brotherhood,  where  the  laws 
of  the  Koran  are  so  explicit  and  absolute,  (I  must  add,) 
so  merciful,  that  Moslems  without  ambition  or  great  en- 
deavor are  happy  in  simply  doing  their  duty.  Charity 
and  patience  are  their  cardinal  virtues  crowned  with  Res- 
ignation. 

This  learned  Cadi  of  Tlemcen,  though  a  devout  Mus- 
sulman, is  a  loyal  functionary  of  France.  In  fact,  he  is 
the  ideal  Judge  of  patriarchal  days,  chosen  by  his  people, 
and  sits,  so  to  speak,  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  administering 
justice  to  all  who  need  his  help  or  counsel.  It  is  the  ad- 
ministration of  righteous  law  in  its  most  primitive  form: 
no  wrangling  of  lawyers  or  quarrelling  of  adversaries, 
though  witnesses  are  abundant,  and  all  have  a  respectful 
and  conscientious  hearing.  No  fees  are  received  from 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  75 

clients — the  Cadi,  being  a  State  officer,  is  paid  by  the 
French  government.  He  is  invested  with  supreme  magis- 
tracy, save  in  criminal  cases,  which  justly  fall  under 
French  laws;  and  from  his  decision  there  is  no  appeal. 

We  had  brought  letters  of  introduction  to  Chaid-Ben 
Abd-Allah,  but  when  the  hour  of  our  visit  came,  my  hus- 
band was  prevented  by  a  sudden  indisposition  from  going, 
and  I  was  forced  to  go  alone.  Our  dragoman  conducted 
me  into  narrow,  winding  streets  into  the  heart  of  the  Arab 
quarter,  where  we  were  met  by  a  son  of  the  Cadi,  who  led 
me  at  once  into  his  home  which  is  one  of  the  finest  Moorish 
houses  in  the  city.  Outside  nothing  save  bare  white  walls, 
without  windows  or  cornice,  and  one  story  high.  A  small 
plain  door  admits  us  into  a  corridor  which  immediately 
turns  to  the  right,  and  then  to  the  left,  and  we  are  in  the 
midst  of  a  beautiful  court,  paved  with  marble  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  colonnade  into  which  open  the  doors  of  the 
different  apartments.  The  Moorish  house  is  usually  built 
in  a  form  resembling  a  Greek  cross ;  the  four  main  rooms 
surrounding  the  court  are  long  and  narrow,  one  the  se- 
lamlik,  for  the  men, — another,  the  harem,  exclusively  for 
women, — in  all  of  which  are  beds  curtained  off  at  the 
ends.  A  broad  cornice,  or  partial  roof,  covers  the  sides  of 
the  court,  and  is  supported  by  columns ;  the  centre  is  left 
open  or  covered  by  an  arched  roof,  and  sometimes,  richly 
stained  glass  or  beautiful  sculptured  work,  with  abundant 
provision  for  ventilation.  This  large  inner  court  is  the 
family  room  and  often  beautifully  furnished.  This  Arabic 
architecture  is  universal  in  the  East. 

The  son  who  met  me  was  about  twenty  years  old,  and 
wore  the  student's  dress,  which  consists  of  a  fine  blue 
broadcloth  burnous  falling  to  the  feet  over  a  white  robe 
beneath.  All  wear  the  white  turban  or  red  fez.  He  had 
very  fine  features,  a  pale  bronzed  complexion,  spoke 
French  well,  but"  was  very  timid,  as  I  was  the  first  Euro- 


76  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

pean  lady,  and  doubtless  the  first  woman  out  of  his  im- 
mediate family,  with  whom  he  had  ever  spoken.  Through 
the  bent  corridor,  across  the  marble  court,  and  beneath 
a  heavy  falling-  curtain  he  led  me  into  the  harem — a  privi- 
lege I  could  not  have  enjoyed  had  my  husband  accom- 
panied me.  I  was  introduced  into  a  large  long  room  at 
one  end  of  which,  upon  a  wide  divan,  sat  the  Cadi — a  good 
type  of  ancient  patriarchal  Judge,  though  in  face  and 
feature  I  should  have  taken  him  for  a  Scotchman  rather 
than  Arab.  He  was  about  58  years  of  age.  He  rose  to 
receive  me  and  presented  me  to  a  fine  tall  matron  of  about 
his  own  age  as  "Madame  Cadi,"  and  then  to  several  other 
ladies — his  wife's  mother,  a  sister,  and  a  widowed  sister- 
in-law,  who  sat  near  on  the  low  divan  running  round  the 
room — the  whole  impression  being  that  of  a  court  recep- 
tion. He  spoke  only  in  Arabic,  his  son  being  our  inter- 
preter, for  our  dragoman  could  not,  of  course,  enter  the 
harem,  as  only  near  male  relatives  are  admitted  into  the 
presence  of  women.  The  Cadi  called  in  his  other  sons, 
and  proudly  presented  them,  but  they  were  so  very  shy, 
and  perhaps  shocked  in  the  presence  of  a  strange  lady 
with  uncovered  face,  that  they  did  not  remain  long;  and 
were,  I  believe,  very  glad  to  retire.  Of  course  they  did 
not  raise  their  eyes,  though  they  made  their  salaam  very 
properly.  Here  I  began  to  observe  that  Moslem  men  are 
as  modest  as  women  in  their  manners ;  and  the  youths  are 
fully,  if  not  more  timid  than  young  girls. 

I  made  my  visit  short,  only  presenting  our  letters  and 
respects,  and  excusing  my  husband's  absence.  The  Cadi 
had  heard  of  our  coming,  was  much  interested  in  our 
travels,  and  assured  me  of  his  intention  to  attend  Pere 
Hyacinthe's  lecture — which  was  already  announced— 
saying,  that  though  he  understood  but  little  French,  he 
understood  the  man  and  the  high  motives  which  had 
brought  him  to  the  country. 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  JJ 

On  the  evening  of  the  lecture  he  was  there,  with  his 
son  near  at  hand  to  interpret  for  him,  and  also  a  number 
of  other  prominent  Mussulmans,  which  greatly  surprised 
the  Europeans,  as  it  was  decidedly  a  new  departure  from 
ancient  custom.  Pere  Hyacinthe  was  urged  to  give  a 
second  lecture,  on  the  same  subject,  of  u Reconciliation 
of  Religions  and  Unity  of  Races" — which  was  still  more 
largely  attended  by  Moslems  as  well  as  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians. 

We  had  fixed  a  day  for  our  special  visit  to  the  learned 
Cadi  and  were  received  \vith  ceremony  which  did  not  ex- 
clude cordiality.  His  two  sons  were  present,  the  absence 
of  ladies  complete.  Three  chairs,  in  a  semicircle  were 
awaiting  us  at  the  top  of  the  room,  a  large  throne-like 
fautciiil  in  the  centre.  What  was  my  astonishment  to 
find  that  this  was  reserved,  not  as  seemed  most  likely,  for 
himself,  or  at  least  for  my  husband,  but  for  me.  I  de- 
murred at  thus  occupying  the  central  seat  in  the  presence 
of  such  learned  directors  of  science  and  religion,  when  he 
replied  with  the  chivalrous  manners  of  a  gentilhomme  de 
I'ancien  regime:  "Ladies  are  always  entitled  to  the  first 
place."  And  as  host  he  insisted  upon  occupying  the  one 
upon  my  left  side.  After  the  coffee  was  served,  and  many 
words  of  welcome  and  felicitation  were  expressed,  we 
entered  upon  our  subject,  and  we  learned  during  that 
two  hours'  visit  more  of  Mohammed,  his  faith  and  people, 
and  also  of  the  spirit  which  governs  Islam,  than  we  could 
have  done  from  a  score  of  years  of  study  in  books.  A 
man  of  wide  observation,  profound  learning,  with  a  clear 
head  and  sound  judgment,  but  above  all  an  humble  and 
devout  man  of  God:  such  was  the  Cadi  of  Tlemcen.  It 
was  great  good  fortune  to  meet  such  a  rare  grand  man! 

Our  interview  had  been  in  the  selamlik,  but  before 
we  took  our  departure  an  interview  with  the  ladies  in  the 
harem  on  the  other  side  of  the  court  was  discretely  man- 


78  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

aged  for  me,  when  the  mother  and  wife  embraced  me  most 
affectionately — smiling  at  our  mimic  conversation.  I  was 
struck  by  the  dignity  of  the  women  in  this  superior  house- 
hold, and  deeply  impressed  by  their  intelligence  and  kind- 
ness. We  came  away  from  the  house  of  that  grand  Mus- 
sulman somewhat  humbler  Christians  than  when  we  en- 
tered it. 

And  this  is  the  man — with  others  of  his  ilk — whom 
some  ill-advised  young  Protestant  missionary  girls,  Eng- 
lish and  Scotch,  come  here  to  "convert"  to  some  of  their 
respective  sects, — carrying  their  importunities  so  far  as 
to  force  themselves  into  their  houses,  and  into  their  pres- 
ence, unannounced,  to  prove,  not  only  their  courage  but 
the  superiority  of  Christian  conduct.  . .  .And  the  good 
and  tolerant  Cadi  receives  them  with  kindness,  offers  them 
refreshments,  and  after  the  expounding  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  is  listened  to  with  silent  respect,  informs  them  that 
he  not  only  knows  the  Old  Testament  well,  but  the  New 
Testament  also;  then  he  accompanies  them  with  forbear- 
ing speech  to  their  exit,  asking  them,  and  sincerely  too, 
if  they  will  not  come  again!  The  Christian  who  told  us 
this  remarked  that,  "Had  any  Mussulman  intruded  in 
this  way  into  any  of  our  respectable  Christian  homes,  we 
certainly  would  not  have  offered  him  refreshments  in  that 
way,  nor  asked  him  to  come  again, — and  I  fear  we  should 
have  shown  him  the  door  more  quickly  and  with  much 
less  ceremony  than  these  Mohammedans  observed." 

Our  friends  of  Algiers  had  tried  to  dissuade  us  from 
coming  to  this  pays  perdu  (lost  country),  but  we  have  a 
way  of  our  own  of  doing,  though  all  the  world  protests; 
and  if  we  believe  it  to  be  a  right  thing  to  do,  we  are  pretty 
sure  to  do  it  if  we  can.  Therefore  we  came  away  here, 
near  the  borders  of  Morocco,  where  there  were  few  Euro- 
peans, and  indeed  nothing  but  beauty  and  bounty,  soft 
sunlight  days  and  glorious  starlight  nights — and  Oh!  so 


TLEMCEN.      EL-EUBBAD.       MAUSSOURA.  79 

many  Arabs,  possessed  of  Christian  graces !  We  were  en- 
chanted and  learned  a  good  deal,  going  away  wiser  than 
we  came,  and  happier.  We  shall  be  thankful  all  our  lives 
for  this  most  interesting  and  profitable  visit  to  this  hos- 
pitable, ancient,  and  royal  city  of  Tlemcen.  We  should 
gladly  have  pushed  on  into  Africa,  and  out  into  the  desert, 
but  it  was  impossible. 

(28  February,  1895.  We  leave  Tlemcen  to-day,  carrying  in  our  hearts  a 
lasting  affection  for  our  kind  Christian  and  Moslem  friends  here.  Our  only 
consolation  is  that  now  we  set  our  faces  eastward.) 


CHAPTER  VIII, 

TO  THE  EAST. 

ON  the  sea  of  life,  as  on  earthly  oceans,  we  are  some- 
times forced  by  trade  winds,  tempests,  or  sealed 
orders,  to  make  a  long  tack,  seemingly  going  backwards, 
to  arrive  at  a  given  port.  So  it  was  with,  us  going  to 
the  Holy  Land. 

We  spent  the  winter  of  1894-5  in  Algeria,  returning  to 
Paris  in  the  spring  to  find  the  cold  still  there.  I  carried 
home,  however,  a  full  sheaf  of  health  and  precious  expe- 
riences, though  the  goal  was  not  reached:  Jerusalem  still 
hung  on  the  horizon  of  my  ardent  hopes. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  1896,  we  started  again  for 
Algiers.  Our  party  consisted  of  four;  for  this  time  we 
were  accompanied  by  our  son  and  a  class-mate  of  his  at 
the  University  of  Paris,  who  was  leaving  France  for  the 
first  time.  Both  were  wide  awake  and  given  to  obser- 
vation, and  making  verses,  which  led  them  to  remain  on 
deck  all  night,  keeping  company  with  the  stars  and  the 
soft  night  winds  as  we  crossed  the  Mediterranean  again. 

My  husband  keeps  a  journal — which  I  do  hot — and 
this  is  what  he  wrote  under  date  of  October  31,  1896, 
which  I  will  preface  by  saying  that  I  am  the  worst  sailor 
in  the  world,  except  Pere  Hyacinthe. 

"Arrived  safely  this  afternoon  at  Algiers  after  a  bad 
"passage.  Emilie  said  to  me  during  the  night,  trying  to 
"console  me:  'Courage,  man  cher  ami,  sooner  or  later  we 


TO  THE  EAST.  8l 

"must  get  into  port;  we  traverse  life  as  we  do  the  sea, 
"and  in  spite  of  discomfort,  high  winds,  and  tempestuous 
"waves,  there's  a  sure  haven  ahead/  During  the  agony 
"of  the  night  from  my  narrow  coffin-like  berth  in  the 
"small,  suffocating  cabin,  which  seemed  like  a  sepulchre, 
"I  could  only  repeat  that  Psalm  over  and  over  again: 
'Thou  hast  laid  me  in  the  lowest  pit,  in  the  darkness,  in 
"the  deep/  " 

It  was  indeed  a  rough  night,  but  nothing  to  compare 
with  some  we  have  passed  in  our  sailing  on  other  seas. 
All  was  dark,  rolling,  and  silent — save  a  constant,  slight 
metallic  sound,  just  outside  my  berth  against  the  ship's 
side.  I  was,  to  say  the  least,  miserably  uncomfortable, 
but  as  proof  of  mind  over  body,  I  will  here  relate  how  I 
was  cured  of  sea-sickness  by  voluntarily  hypnotising  the 
brain.  I  fixed  my  attention  upon  that  slight  noise  of  a 
grinding  chain  in  the  rigging,  which  was  low  and  mel- 
ancholy, yet  very  musical;  and  then  with  a  strong  effort 
of  will  and  imagination,  I  hung  a  whole  night's  anguish 
upon  this  small,  weird,  monotonous  sound:  weaving  it 
into  the  story  of  a  sibyl  carrying  home  to  Tyre  and  Sidont 
Athens  and  Alexandria,  the  passing  souls  of  lost  mariners. 
Thus,  what  was  for  my  suffering  companion  a  night  in 
Sheol,  was  to  me  one  of  exquisite  enjoyment  on  the  heights 
of  Parnassus — under  the  sea!  Results  were  equal — and 
we  were  very  happy  when,  after  twenty-four  hours,  the 
glad  voices  of  our  two  young  companions  at  our  door 
cried  out  "La  voila  I'Afrique!" 

We  remained  a  week  in  Algiersjust  long  enough  to  see 
our  former  friends  in  town  and  country:  Moslems,  Jews, 
and  Christians;  but  not  long  enough  to  enjoy  this  delect- 
able climate  and  the  fascinating  country,  as  we  should  have 
liked.  One  day  we  went  up  to  Bou-Zereah,  which  over- 
looks the  city  and  sea,  where  Prince  de  Polignac  received 
us  with  his  accustomed  military  courtesy  of  the  ancient 


82  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

regime.  Officer  in  the  French  Algerian  army  for  forty 
years,  he  knows  the  Arabs  well,  and  therefore  appreciates 
their  great  qualities  and  their  grand  religion,  though  he 
is  a  Roman  Catholic  and  direct  descendant  of  the  Prince 
de  Polignac  who  was  the  standard-bearer  under  Godefroy 
de  Bouillon — the  first  Christian  King  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
Crusades,  that  fanatical  and  un-Christian  warfare  against 
the  Mussulmans.  The  view  of  Algiers:  the  harbor,  sea, 
and  mountains,  from  the  terrace  of  his  antique  Moorish 
palace  is,  I  think,  superior  to  Naples  or  San  Francisco. 

Another  day  we  wrent  to  the  Chateau  Hydra,  the  an- 
cient and  favorite  country  seat  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers- 
Moorish  and  magnificent — now  presided  over  by  a  hos- 
pitable English  lady — in  the  midst  of  a  most  luxuriant 
garden,  touffu  de  roses,  with  immense  orange,  lemon,  date, 
and  palm  trees.  Here  we  made  acquaintance  with  a  most 
intelligent  fish,  a  carp,  which  was  in  intimate  and  affec- 
tionate relation  with  the  house-dog.  The  dog,  at  a  signal 
from  his  mistress,  set  up  a  coaxing  bark,  when  imme- 
diately its  finny  friend  came  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
in  its  great  pool,  and  then^bending  down  as  the  fish  held 
up  its  mouth  out  of  the  water,  kissed  it!  After  such  a 
reconciliation  and  strange  "selection"  of  species,  can  one 
imagine  that  human  beings  of  different  races  cannot  live 
together  in  peace — and  perhaps  in  love? 

Our  Arab  friends  in  Algiers  had  increased  in  number 
and  in  friendly  relations.  Among  many  dear  Christian 
friends  we  found  some  whose  sentiments  were  in  inverse 
ratio.  In  Africa,  as  in  other  lands,  there  are  also  still 
many  well-meaning,  so-called  "Evangelical"  Protestants 
and  "faithful"  Catholics,  who  give  the  persistent  reason 
for  their  faith  by  remaining  obstinately  entrenched  in 
their  narrow,  thick-walled  fortress  on  their  mountain  of 
orthodox  hatred,  cold  and  high,  all  the  days  of  their  un- 
lovely and  unloving  lives!  Then  the  newspapers,  which 


TO  THE  EAST.  83 

are  not  always  distinguished  for  their  accuracy,  in  Africa 
as  well  as  in  Europe  and  America,  were  kind  or  unkind, 
according  to  their  religious  convictions  and  were  ready 
to  credit  us  with  various  missions;  some  fearing  we  were 
become  Mussulmans,  while  others  predicted  that  we  were 
lapsing  back  to  Rome,  because  we  retained  many  dear 
friends  within  her  communion,  maintaining  open  relations 
with  them;  and  because  we  do  respect  those  who  do~m)t 
believe  as  we  do,  if  they  respect  themselves — and  some- 
times if  they  do  not;  and  because  we  like  and  defend  the 
Jews.  All  this  was  amusing  if  not  entirely  edifying.  The 
next  year  occurred  those  lamentable  anti-Semitic  riots, 
the  result  of  political  animosities,  commercial  jealousies, 
racial  distemper,  and  religious — or  rather  anti-religious— 
hatred,  which  disgrace  the  annals  of  Algiers. 

"Alas,  for  the  rarity  of  Christian  charity  under  the 
African  sun!" 

At  last  we  started  eastward,  toward  that  city  which 
did  more  than  cast  aspersions  upon  travelling  strangers 
with  her  walls :  she  stoned  the  Prophets. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM    ALGIERS   TO    CONSTANTINE. 

Note  from  Pere  Hy acint he's  Journal. 

ALGIERS,  Nov.  6,  1896. 

"A  new  page  opens  in  our  lives  with  this  depar- 
ture from  Paris. ..  .Shall  we  be  able 'to  go  even  to 
Jerusalem?  Will  God  indeed  permit  us  this,  by 
circumstances  which  He  alone  can  direct?" 

WE  left  Algiers  by  railway  and  arrived  in  Constan- 
tine  the  8th  of  November,  making  the  journey 
through  the  Kabyle  Mountains  very  comfortably  in  two 
days,  stopping  for  the  night  at  Setif.  As  travel  is  my 
panacea,  we  went  by  preference  in  a  slow-going  train,  and 
therefore  had  a  fine  opportunity  for  studying  the  travel- 
ling manners  of  different  natives,  as  well  as  the  Europeans 
who  dwell  along  the  route.  We  always  found  some  one, 
usually  a  French  African  soldier,  sometimes  of  the  ranks, 
but  more  frequently  the  officers,  who  would  interpret  for 
us.  In  this  way  we  learned  much  concerning  the  history 
and  life  of  the  Kabyles,  who  are  a  distinct  race  from  the 
Arabs.  They  are  given  to  agriculture  and  are  more  prac- 
tical and  less  contemplative  people.  Mechanical  arts  are 
pursued  among  them,  and  they  produce  some  very  fine 
work  in  metal:  gold,  silver,  steel,  iron,  etc.,  keeping  in 
remembrance  Arabic  art  of  the  past,  which  still  lives  in 
its  unequaled  and  imperishable  blades  of  Damascus  and 
Toledo. 

Mussulmans  far  better  than  we  of  the  modern  civili- 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  CONSTANTINE.  85 

sation,  know  how  to  travel,  especially  by  horse,  camel,  or 
donkey.  But  in  carriage  or  carts  on  the  common  road, 
they  are  out  of  place;  children  of  the  grand  desert,  they 
are  not  made  for  cramped  positions.  In  the  railway  train 
they  are  at  their  ease  and  are  delightful  fellow-travellers, 
adapting  themselves  to  uncomfortable  quarters,  showing 
great  simplicity  and  quiet  good  manners  "preferring  one 
another/'  always  content,  never  obtrusive,  yet  never  re- 
luctant to  render  service — even  to  yielding  "the  comfort- 
able corner,"  especially  to  ladies,  and  to  the  aged  or  in- 
firm. They  are  always  self-possessed  because  they  are 
oblivious  of  self;  given  to  meditation,  and  never  to  spitting 
on  the  floor.  (Get  ye  hence,  disgusting  souvenir  of  rail- 
way carriages  in  more  enlightened  countries !)  Then  they 
know  how  to  travel  without  boxes,  bags,  or  baggage;  all 
their  belongings  being  carefully  enveloped  in  their  pray- 
ing-carpet. In  this,  as  in  all  circumstances,  they  are  en- 
veloped in  their  religion.  The  praying-carpet  is  oblong, 
ordinarily  about  six  by  four  feet,  and  is  almost  invariably 
of  Oriental  texture — fine,  of  pretty  colors,  always  very 
clean,  as  a  sacred  thing  set  apart  for  a  holy  purpose.  This, 
carefully  enveloping  their  effects  of  travel,  and  tied  with 
a  cord,  serves  them  as  a  pillow,  a  bed,  or  a  mosque.  Thus 
the  Mussulman  does  not  leave  his  religion  at  home,  nor 
restrict  it  to  certain  days  or  structures.  What  royal  lib- 
erty— that  which  makes  free  men ! 

We  frequently  noticed,  however,  some  precious  pack- 
ages of  finery,  which  these  sedate  travellers  were  taking 
home  to  their  wives  and  children;  and  we  occasionally 
caught  glimpses  of  rich  stuffs  for  ladies  wear  that  would 
give  delight  in  a  prince's  palace. 

Constantine  is  unique  for  its  picturesque  situation  on 
a  high  rock  that  stands  out,  a  bold  promontory  in  the 
midst  of  a  vast  undulating  plain.  At  the  south  it  looks 
down  a  vertiginous  precipice,  while  to  the  north  fair  slo- 


86  THROUGH' THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

ping  gardens  aiid  fields  incline  it  with  winding  roads  to 
the  lower  world.  Its  beautiful  position  and  natural  beauty 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired,  save  a  glimpse  of  the  ocean. 
With  that  it  would  be  second  only  to  Athens. 

I  brought  a  sad  souvenir  to  Constantine.  Its  former 
bishop,  Monseigneur  de  Las  Cases,  was  a  very  dear  friend 
of  mine,  whose  family  I  had  known  since  I  first  came  to 
France.  (He  was  of  the  family  of  Las  Casas,  the  first 
Bishop  sent  from  Rome  to  the  Antilles,  and  nephew  of 
the  historian  of  that  name,  who  followed  Napoleon  to 
St.  Helena.)  Like  his  family,  the  Bishop  of  Constantine 
was  distinguished  for  patriotic  and  religious  devotion,  and 
also  for  liberal  ideas.  I  was  in  Rome  during  the  Vatican 
Council  and  saw  much  of  the  liberal  bishops;  and  there 
were  three  hundred  opposed  to  the  definition  of  Papal  in- 
fallibility. Monseigneur  de  Las  Cases  was  one  of  that 
three  hundred.  It  was  not  surprising  that  we  were 
friends.  He  died  soon  after  the  great  dogmatic  disaster : 
It  broke  his  heart. 

We  were  almost  painfully  struck  upon  our  arrival  in 
Constantine  by  the  European  aspect  of  the  city:  the 
straight  and  well  built  houses,  and  fine  shops,  stores  and 
hotels.  But  we  hurried — even  before  seeing  our  rooms, 
which  had  been  engaged  for  us — to  the  top  of  "The 
Rock"  to  see  the  sunset.  We  passed  through  the  great 
square  where  thousands  of  Arabs  were  gathered:  walk- 
ing, sauntering,  or  standing, — all  enjoying  the  glorious 
scene.  Sunset  was  the  hour  of  rendez-vous.  Now  we  felt 
that  we  were  indeed  in  Africa — or  Arabia.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  we  could  make  our  way  through  the  immense 
crowd,  but  a  timely  caravan  of  camels,  with  their  soft 
stepping  and  lofty  gait,  went  through  as  easily  as  if  the 
people  were  waving  grass, — only  turning  their  swaying 
necks,  encompassing  the  multitude  with  their  soft  eyes,— 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  CONSTANTINE.  87 

and  we  followed  in  their  wake  through  the  throng,  and 
had  our  fill  of  Arabs  for  once  in  our  lives !  And  fine  speci- 
mens they  were — taller  than  elsewhere,  and  though  they 
wore  their  beautiful  dress,  there  was  something  of  ad- 
vanced civilisation  (that  of  course  means  ours.  .  .  )in  their 
deportment. 

From  the  high  jutting  rock  we  drew  back  with  vertigo, 
as  our  gaze  plunged  down  into  the  depths  beneath.  We 
were  filled  with  awe  and  terror,  heightened  by  the  sad 
souvenirs  of  the  terrible  siege  by  the  French,  when  the 
few  remaining  brave  defenders  tried  to  escape  slaughter 
by  means  of  a  cord  let  down  over  this  precipice.  Alas, 
the  long  rope,  overcharged  with  their  weight,  broke  and 
let  them  die  in  the  vortex  below, — perhaps  a  quicker  death, 
but  none  the  Jess  heroic.  The  numerous  fortresses  on  the 
surrounding  hills  plainly  tell  the  horrid  tale  of  war :  attack 
and  defence,  defeat  and  victory.  Certain  it  is  that  few 
places  have  such  warlike  record  as  this  noble  city  of  Con- 
stantine,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Roman  province  of 
Numidia,  held  in  such  a  high  appreciation  by  the  Caesars. 
Reduced  to  ruins  in  311,  A.  D.,  it  was  rebuilt  by  Flavius 
Constantine,  when  it  changed  its  native  name,  Cirta,  to 
the  one  it  now  bears,  in  honor  of  its  conqueror.  In  the 
fifth  century  the  Great  Constantine  repulsed  the  devas- 
tating vandals,  and  after  centuries  of  trial,  military  im- 
portance, and  flaunting  prosperity,  with  contending  forces 
of  native  tribes,  Turks  and  Europeans,  the  Arabs  took 
possession  of  the  magnificent  city  in  the  early  days  of  Is- 
lamism.  From  1567  to  1837,  a  period  of  270  years,  no 
less  than  fifty  Moslem  Beys  ruled  the  city,  and  frequently, 
as  punishment  for  their  misrule,  met  with  unnatural 
deaths  by  order  of  the  superior  governor,  the  Dey  of  Al- 
giers, who  was  for  so  long  the  sovereign  potentate  of 
North  Africa,  as  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  is  to-day  for  other 


88  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Moslem  countries — except  Morocco,  whose  Sultan  claims 
the  only  true  heirship  to  the  great  Moslem  Prophet. 

On  the  1 3th  of  October,  1837,  after  the  awful  slaugh- 
ter of  both  French  and  Arabs,  the  Due  de  Nemours,  (who 
is  dying  to-day  as  I  write,)  aided  by  several  of  the  best 
generals  of  the  French  army,  made  a  breach  in  the  north- 
ern side  of  the  almost  impregnable  wall,  and  Constantine 
was  occupied  by  the  French.  The  Arab  governor,  Ahmed 
Bey,  escaped;  and  for  several  years  continued  the  war 
outside  his  capital;  but  finally,  in  1848,  he  capitulated,  and 
with  his  submission  came  peace  and  prosperity.  To-day, 
as  everywhere  in  our  African  colonies,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
justice and  cruel  treatment  they  have  received  from  pub- 
lic functionaries,  the  Arabs  are  loyal  to  France  and  grate- 
ful for  the  many  benefits  bestowed  upon  them,  especially 
in  the  admirable  consideration  of  their  religion :  the 
mosque  being  on  the  same  footing  in  regard  to  retribution, 
as  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches  and  the 
Synagogue ;  all  being  paid  by  the  French  government ;  and 
it  is  therefore,  like  them,  a  State  Church, 

Pere  Hyacinthe  had  been  invited  by  the  literary  so- 
ciety "La  Cirta"  to  deliver  a  lecture  here,  which  he  did, 
and  at  which  the  three  religious  elements  were  well  rep- 
resented and  in  about  equal  numbers:  Christians,  Jews, 
and  Arabs;  and  they  were  certainly  united  in  generous 
applause  for  once,  for  the  subject  concerned  them  all  alike: 
the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

Constantine  can  boast  of  a  goodly  number  of  represen- 
tative men  of  the  mother  patrie,  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment and  of  the  army  (as  this  is  an  important  military 
station),  literary  men,  and  those  of  finance. 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  men  we  met  is  General  de 
la  Roque,  commander  of  the  forces  here,  who  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  and  France,  in  its  peaceful  occupa- 
tion of  Tunis.  A  man  of  large  human  sympathies,  a 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  CONSTANTINE.  89 

true  Christian  soldier,  and  Catholic,  in  its  best  sense,  he 
knows  and  appreciates  the  nobility  of  the  Arab  character, 
having-  lived  and  fought  both  with  and  against  them, 
during  his  long  military  career  in  Africa. 

Note  from  the  Journal  of  Pere  Hyacinthe. 

"General  de  la  Roque  said  to  me  to-day  'Cardinal  Lavigerie  has  been  my 
life-long  friend,  and  we  had  the  same  ideas  concerning  our  relations-  with 
Christians  and  Mussulmans.  Of  course  we  are  called  Utopists,  but  our  work 
— yours,  the  Cardinal's,  and  mine — (he  meant  the  reconciliation  of  mono- 
theistic believers)  is  the  right  work, ;  and  speaking  of  Moslems  he  said : 
^their  religion  has  all  the  charm  of  ours,  without  having  its  hardness/  " 

(It  was  this  worthy  Roman  prelate  who  influenced  Leo  XIII  to  recog- 
nise the  French  Republic.  He  was  a  condisciple  of  Pere  Hyacinthe  at  the 
Theological  Seminary  of  Saint-Sulpice  in  Paris.) 

It  is  very  certain  that  those  who  know  the  Arabs  most 
love  them  best,  and  none  know  them  better  than  the  French 
officers,  such  as  the  Prince  de  Polignac  of  Algiers,  and 
General  de  la  Roque  of  Constantine.  None  can  know  them 
as  do  those  who  have  fought  against  them,  for  them,  and 
with  them !  And  this  principle  holds  good  of  the  true  sol- 
dier of  Christ,  combating  for  truth  and  justice  among 
Christians  and  non-Christians.  If  our  hearts  are  in  the 
right  place  we  must  learn  to  love  our  fellow-men,  not  only 
in  peaceful  relations,  but  especially  in  the  battle  of  life, 
respecting  our  foes  and  loving  our  enemies.  Else  we  are 
not  His  soldiers,  but  hirelings,  marauders,  and  assassins! 

It  is  not  irrelevant  to  give  here  the  words  of  the  Kron- 
prinz  Fritz  (the  late  German  Emperor  Frederick — of  lov- 
ing memory)  to  Pere  Hyacinthe,  whom  he  had  invited  to 
come  and  see  him  at  Versailles  at  the  time  of  the  capitu- 
lation of  Paris  in  1871.  "I  always  admired  the  French/' 
he  said,  "but  it  is  only  since  I  have  been  called  to  fight 
against  them  that  I  appreciate  and  love  them."-— Noble 
words  of  a  noble  heart ! 

The  climate  of  Constantine  is  delightful,  higher  and 


9O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

drier  than  Algiers,  and  business  activity  with  educational 
institutions  make  it,  in  spite  of  the  preponderating  Arab 
population,  a  European  city. 

The  mayor,  Monsieur  Ernest  Mercier,  is  the  distin- 
guished historian  of  Algiers.  He  and  his  very  interesting 
family  showed  us  great  attention  and  gave  us  much  valu- 
able information  concerning  the  past  and  the  present,  and? 
I  venture  to  say,  much  of  the  future,  of  this  beautiful  and 
promising  city  and  country. 

Madame  Mercier  is  a  lady  of  Russian  birth,  high  cul- 
ture, and  greatly  attached  to  Africa ;  their  only  daughter 
is  a  zealous  Christian,  and  so  enthusiastic  was  sjie  for 
our  work  of  Peace  among  all  peoples,  that  she  would  have 
willingly  joined  us  in  our  mission  through  other  and  dis- 
tant lands  of  Islam. 

M.  Mercier  accompanied  us  to  the  educational  institu- 
tions both  French  and  Arabic,  all  of  which  are  most  inter- 
esting and  prosperous.  He  took  us  to  the  celebrated  Me- 
dersa,  which  means  the  Moslem  University,  including  the 
Ecclesiastic  and  Scientific  Colleges;  first  visiting,  within 
a  covered  court,  the  tomb  of  its  founder,  Salah  Bey,  who 
died  in  1/92,  and  that  of  his  daughter,  the  Princess  A'icha 
Derouicha,  who  is  held  in  great  veneration.  Loving  hands 
still  cover  her  tomb  with  flowers  and  silken  drapery.  Is- 
lam is  not  without  saintly  women,  and  it  also  has  its  long 
list  of  women  writers  and  poets.  We  were  surprised  and 
gratified  at  the  high  standard  of  learning  and  intelligence 
of  the  native  students.  Here,  as  everywhere  else,  the 
Koran  is  the  base  of  life  and  learning.  Islamic  empires 
may  be  overthrown  and  their  civilisation  checked,  but 
there  is  no  danger  of  infidelity,  nor  of  its  cohorting  ills 
and  moral  decadence,  when  the  belief  in  God  is  so  profound 
and  general,  and  His  Government  so  inwrought  in  life. 

In  our  study  of  Mohammed  and  his  following,  we 
have  alreadv  learned  a  most  essential  fact,  and  one  which 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  CONSTANTINE.  QT 

we  formerly  ignored,  viz.,  that  the  government  of  Islam, 
with  its  religious  laws,  is  one  thing,  and  the  government 
of  its  different  peoples  by  Princes  or  Sultans,  is  another. 
And  with  us,  would  it  be  fair  to  judge  Christianity  by 
our  Governors,  Rulers,  Kings,  and  Emperors? 

It  is  very  certain,  as  history  and  all  intelligent  Moslems 
will  assure  you,  that  Islamic  decadence  dates  from  the 
separation  of  the  temporal  arid  spiritual  governments,  as 
with  Israel.  Added  to  this  is  the  breaking  down  of  their 
heroic  resistance:  nervous  energies  and  will-power,  by 
the  universal  impoisonment  by  nicotine.  Their  persistent 
hope  and  dominant  belief  is  that  whatever  befalls  human 
government  and  governors,  their  faith  will  stand  firm, 
unswerving,  and  integral.  It  is  indeed  a  grand  faith, 
which  admits  of  no  doubt,  no  contravention,  or  subterfuge ! 

We  were  greatly  edified  by  the  quiet,  gentlemanly  man- 
ners of  the  students.  What  simplicity,  cleanliness,  and 
frugality!  Our  "comforts,''  as  we  call  them,  would  be 
discomforts,  hindrances,  and  snares  to  them.  (I  am  think- 
ing here  of  the  finely  furnished  "sitting-rooms"  with  car- 
pets, rocking-chairs,  and  biblots,  of  students  in  certain 
theological  colleges.  .  .  . )  Around  the  court  of  this  Mos- 
lem Theological  University  were  the  students'  rooms — 
the  doors  serving  for  windows  as  well;  a  few  rugs  on 
which  they  sit  or  sleep,  and  a  low  table ;  that  was  all.  Their 
class  rooms  were  however  well  furnished  with  all  the  ac- 
cessories and  apparatus  of  modern  study. 

The  janitor  of  the  Medersa,  who  spoke  French  well, 
invited  me  to  visit  his  harem,  which  consisted  of  his  wife, 
his  mother-in-law,  and  his  little  son  of  two  years  old.  But 
so  shy  was  his  young  spouse  of  sixteen,  that  she  could  not 
be  induced  to  come  out  from  behind  the  door.  She  posi- 
tively trembled  at  seeing  me,  like  a  snared  gazelle,  and 
was  as  beautiful.  Her  mother  was  still  young  and  was 
.  sitting  on  the  clean  floor,  washing  the  dishes,  with  her  feet 


92  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

crossed  beneath  full  trousers.  And  it  was  absolutely  mi- 
raculous, the  tidiness  and  ease  with  which  her  work  was 
done,  under  what  would  have  been  for  us,  intolerable  if 
not  impossible  conditions.  Not  a  single  drop  of  water 
soiled  the  clean  white  pine  floor.  Both  these  women  were 
dressed  so  prettily  and  with  so  many  ornaments  about  the 
arms,  wrists,  and  ankles,  one  would  have  thought  it  was 
for  a  festival,  or  at  least  a  special  toilet  to  receive  guests ; 
but  this  was  not  the  case,  as  my  visit  was  announced  only 
about  one  minute  before  I  was  ushered  in.  The  fact  is 
that  Moslem  wives  and  women  wear  their  Sunday  clothes 
every  day,  and  are  therefore  always  at  their  best.  And  it 
is  very  possible  that  this  pleases  their  husbands  and  gives 
constant  interest  to  their  own  lives.  (We  leave  the  sug- 
gestion to  certain  Christian  wives.)  The  poor  little  timid 
wife  seemed  so  confused — turning  away  her  face  and  try- 
ing to  veil  it  with  her  pretty  little  henna-dyed  hands,  that 
I  felt  sure  she  would  be  glad  of  my  departure,  and  I, 
therefore,  made  my  visit  very  short.  Throughout  it,  I 
could  easily  detect  the  pride  of  the  husband  in  showing 
me  his  pretty,  young  wife,  and  at  the  same  time  witness 
his  attempts  at  reconciling  her  to  being  looked  at  by  a 
strange  lady.  His  success  was  not  remarkable. 

Monsieur  Mercier  accompanied  us  to  visit  the  Director 
of  the  University,  a  very  distinguished  man.  As  we  went, 
I  asked  about  the  family  of  this  learned  professor.  "Ah," 
he  replied,  "I  can  tell  you  nothing,  nor  can  anything  be 
known  to  men  about  harem  life ;  that  is  terra  incognita; 
only  as  he  has  sons  at  college,  I  know  he  is  married,  as 
are  all  Mussulmans ;  and  I  also  know  that  he  is  married  to 
a  niece  of  Abd-el-Kadir,  our  great  Emir." 

Through  the  narrow  winding  streets,  interesting  and 
clean,  in  spite  of  the  dense  population,  and  through  a  small 
door  into  what  seemed  like  a  fortress — then  along  corri- 
dors, and  up  steep  stairs,  we  were  introduced  into  the 


FROM  ALGIERS  TO  CONSTANTINE.  93 

Director's  library — a  large,  low  room,  the  floor  of  which 
was  covered  with  all  sorts  of  matting,  carpets,  and  fur 
rugs.  There  were  three  chairs  for  us,  and  there  was  a 
fine  large  mahogany  writing-desk  with  all  the  modern  ap- 
purtenances of  literary  work.  We  were  received  with  re- 
fined courtesy,  the  Professor  being  perfectly  familiar  with 
French,  and  not  only  was  he  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  subject  of  higher  education,  but  as  a  gentleman  would 
have  been  quite  as  much  at  home  at  the  Sorbonne,  Oxford, 
or  Yale,  as  he  was  in  this  simple  Moslem  study  in  Africa. 
Indeed  above  a  certain  altitude  of  culture,  great  natures 
are  at  home  everywhere  Our  letters  and  science  were 
his;  and  apart  from  religious  teaching,  our  methods  of 
learning  were  the  same.  During  our  visit,  secretaries  and 
other  professors  came  in  unannounced,  and  quietly  took 
their  places  on  the  rugs  around  the  room,  and  as  easily 
and  gracefully  as  upon  chairs,  giving  close  attention  to 
the  conversation.  It  is  the  custom  among  the  Moslems  for 
all  male  friends  who  are  received  in  the  selamlik  (the 
room  belonging  to  men — as  the  harem  exclusively  is  to 
women,)  to  come  quietly  in  at  any  time,  as  though  they 
belonged  to  the  family.  This  fraternity  among  the  fol- 
lowers of  Mohammed  is  one  of  the  most  charming  and 
positive  proofs  of  the  confidence  and  the  real  spirit  of 
brotherhood  among  them.  All  things  in  common — reli- 
gion, learning,  and  divine  rights,  make  of  them,  not  only 
a  great  republic,  but  a  firmly  welded  family.  Our  Chris- 
tian formality  is  not  dignity,  and  Moslem  informality  is 
not  the  lack  of  it.  The  spirit  rules,  and  not  the  letter. 
Individuality  easily  degenerates  into  egotism  and  selfish- 
ness, if  not  imbued  with  the  divine  spirit. 

After  nearly  an  hour's  most  interesting  conversation 

upon  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary  interests  of  education 

and  religion,  the  Professor  arose,  and  coming  to  me,  asked 

—with  the  ease  of  the  polished  gentleman  that  he  is — if 


94  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

I  would  give  the  ladies  of  his  family  the  pleasure  of  a 
visit.  I  assured  him  that  nothing-  could  give  me  more 
satisfaction  than  to  become  acquainted  with  the  ladies  of 
the  household  of  so  distinguished  and  learned  a  gentleman ; 
whereupon  he  conducted  me  through  devious  ways,  and  up 
more  stairs,  for  his  harem  was  a  high  one,  built  on  a  hill, 
far  above  the  selamlik;  through  the  white  marble  court, 
into  a  vast  parlor  or  family  room,  with  niches  and  divans, 
and  at  one  end  a  double  dias  or  superimposed  divan — the 
whole  covered  and  hung  with  fine  carpets,  tapestries,  and 
lace  curtains.  There  wrere  more  ornaments  here  than  I 
had  met  with  elsewhere  in  a  Moslem  house.* 

*An   account   of  this  visit  will  be   given   in   my   subsequent  volume   on 
Harem  Life.    E.  H.  L. 


STREET  IN  TUNIS — LEADING  TO  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. 


CHAPTER  X. 

TUNIS. 

Note  from  the  Journal  of  Pere  Hyacinthe. 
"Islam  is  perhaps  at  this  present  time  the  most 
powerful  organisation  of  Monotheism  on  the  globe; 
superior  to  Catholicism  or  Protestantism  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Unity  of  God,  and  the  purity 
of  worship." 

II'  was  the  fourth  day  of  the  moon,  3  Djoumadi-Ettani 
1313,  which  means  in  Christian  reckoning  the  iQth 
of  November,  1895,  that  we  arrived  in  Tunis. 

Our  son  left  us  here,  as  his  university  studies  could  no 
longer  be  neglected,  sailing  directly  for  Marseilles.  He 
was  charmed  with  Tunis,  and,  very  naturally,  above  all 
with  the  ruins  of  Carthage. 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  wrhile  Algiers  and 
Constantine  are  not  French  colonies,  but  regularly  inte- 
grated Departments  of  France,  Tunis  is  a  French  protec- 
torate, with  a  Resident  Minister,  at  present  Monsieur 
Millet,  while  the  Bey  of  Tunis  remains  the  sovereign;  and 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey  is  its  spiritual  head — as  he  is  Kalif 
of  the  entire  Moslem  world.  With  all  these  different,  and 
sometimes  conflicting  governments  it  might  be  thought  to 
be  overgoverned ;  but  happily,  there  is  yet  another  stronger 
and  wiser  Ruler  over  them  all.  Then  the  different  govern- 
ments neutralise  each  other  and  have  produced  in  Tunis 
a  happy  and  most  prosperous  people.  And,  I  believe,  this 
is  the  result,  direct  and  immediate,  of  this  fully  recognised 


96  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Divine  Sovereignty  by  the  great  majority  of  the  people, 
who  are  Moslems.  Tunis  is  not  like  Constantine  and  Al- 
giers, a  conquered  country,  but  an  independent  people  who, 
failing  in  self-government,  called  in  France  to  protect 
them  against  internal  and  external  troubles;  which  she 
did  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  The  country  is 
very  rich,  but  under  the  former  regime  little  account  was 
kept  of  income  and  expenditure,  and  deficits  were  the  natu- 
ral consequence.  But  under  the  French  protectorate  the 
finance  is  sound,  the  whole  country  flourishing,  though 
little  thought  is  given  it  by  the  powers,  and  no  anxiety  in 
international  diplomacy.  Nations,  like  persons,  are  often 
the  happiest  who  make  the  least  noise. 

There  are  in  Tunis,  Jews  and  Christians  in  about  equal 
number,  but  about  three  times  their  joint  number  of  Mus- 
sulmans. There  is  intellectual  culture  and  commercial  ac- 
tivity, with  a  decidedly  progressive  spirit.  No  parliament, 
no  elections,  and  therefore  no  political  rivalries  or  ani- 
mosities. The  French  government  is  on  excellent  terms 
with  the  Bey — working  together.  The  city  of  Tunis  is 
certainly  interesting,  and  the  climate  delightful.  Every- 
thing was  novel  to  us  in  this  happy  conjunction  of  the 
old  and  the  new  worlds :  an  unmistakable  Islamic  influence 
joined  to  a  positive  modern  spirit  of  progress.  What 
strikes  one  most  in  the  physiognomy  of  the  people  is  con- 
tentment; and  the  next  thing,  in  the  outdoor  aspect,  is 
the  rich  costume  of  the  Moslem  men — the  delicate  tints 
prevailing:  tender  blue,  green,  mauve,  cream,  etc.,  etc., 
instead  of  the  universal  white  of  the  other  north  African 
countries.  It  was  indeed  strange  to  see  such  numbers  of 
strong  men  draped  in  these  soft  stuffs,  mostly  fine  cash- 
mere, and  in  these  delicate  colors,  which,  with  us,  are  only 
worn  by  women — all  graceful  and  immaculate,  yet  with- 
out effeminacy. 

The  Moslem  employees  of  the  government — and  they 


TUNIS.  97 

are  numerous — dress  as  Europeans,  with  the  distinctive 
fez  only.*  Few  women  are  seen  in  the  streets,  save  Chris- 
tians and  Jewesses.  These  latter  have  fine  faces  and  some- 
times beautiful,  with  their  jet-black  painted  eyebrows  and 
white  complexion.  Their  mode  of  dress  is,  however,  most 
unlovely,  though  often  very  rich  from  the  waist  up,  but 
from  the  waist  down,  indoors  and  out  of  doors  alike,-orjli- 
narily,  nothing  but  white  cotton,  tight-fitting  pantaloons— 
except  for  special  indoor  occasions,  when  these  pantaloons 
are  made  fuller,  of  rich  stuff,  and  richly  embroidered. 
They  wear  also  a  round  highpointed  headgear,  like  an 
elongated  funnel,  some  are  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  yard 
in  length,  leaning  backward,  from  which  depends  a  veil. 
Take  it  as  a  whole  this  accouterment  is  hideous,  and  it  is 
simply  unrighteous  thus  to  disfigure  the  human  form !  But 
at  the  waist  it  has  not,  however,  that  sickening  aspect  of 
the  Christian  deformity,  which  it  has  throughout  Europe 
and  America,  and  which  is  the  creation  of  a  few  score  of 
Parisian  dressmakers,  most  of  whom  are  totally  ignorant 
of  the  first  principles  of  health,  to  say  nothing  of  grace 
and  comfort.  I  speak  above  all  of  the  stupid,  culpable,  and 
ignoble  endeavor  of  strangulation  of  womankind  about  the 
middle  of  the  body,  which  revolts  all  sanitary  and  aesthetic 
ideas  and  excites  the  protest,  not  only  of  sane  people  of  our 
day,  but  of  future  generations — should  there  be  children 
enough,  and  with  strength  and  common  sense  enough  to 
protest !  But  the  Jewesses  in  Tunis  go  to  the  very  oppo- 
site extreme  and  cultivate  embonpoint,  and  a  rotundity 
which  sometimes  exceeds  normal  proportions,  and  is,  I 
am  told,  induced  in  marriageable  young  ladies  by  a  certain 
diet,  principally  milk.  Their  manners  are  always  quiet 
but  self-reliant. 

*  The  fez  is  a  red  felt,  rimless,  low  hat  with  a  large  blue  silk  tassel  fall- 
ing from  the  crown, — and  is  enjoined  in  Moslem  countries  upon  functionaries, 
Moslems  or  Christians.  Venerable  Moslems,  however,  wear  turbans. 


98  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

We  wished,  of  course,  to  see  the  Bey  of  Tunis,  and 
were  gratified.  He  often  flashes  through  the  streets  in 
his  modest  equipage,  drawn  by  six  white  mules — unsaluted 
and  seemingly  unobserved,  for,  with  Mussulmans,  respect 
does  not  manifest  itself  in  acclamations;  and  the  highest 
respect  and  veneration  for  sovereigns  (and  women)  is 
to  seem  not  to  see  them.  His  Highness  resides  at  La 
Marsa,  about  six  miles  from  Tunis,  and  once  a  week  he 
comes  among  his  people  and  sits  in  judgment,  after  the 
custom  of  the  patriarchs,  not  quite  in  the  gates  of  the 
city,  but  at  the  grand  old  palace  of  Dar-el-Bey.  He  is 
over  seventy  years  old,  is  kind-hearted,  very  devout,  and 
respected  by  the  foreign  population,  and  venerated  by  all 
Mussulmans.  It  was  otherwise  with  his  cruel  predeces- 
sors.* 

I  was  invited  to  visit  the  two  eldest  daughters  of  His 
Highness,  Princesses,  second  to  none  in  dignity  and  re- 
finement, and  married  to  two  native  brothers,  both  Gen- 
erals in  the  army  of  the  Bey,  and  who  wear  on  their  breast 
the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  They  were  surrounded 
by  their  charming  and  highly  bred  children,  and  composed 
model  families. 

Prince  En-Nacer  Bey,  son  of  the  late  Bey  of  Tunis, 
invited  us  to  visit  him  at  his  chateau  between  La  Marsa 
and  Carthage.  A  friend  of  his,  Mohammed  Snouci,  Judge 
of  the  Penal  Tribunal,  came  to  fetch  us  at  our  hotel,  and  in 
an  hour  by  train  we  arrived  and  found  the  carriage  of  the 
Prince  awaiting  us  at  the  Marsa  station.  His  residence 
stands  in  the  midst  of  the  open  country  and  is  a  composite 
of  Moorish  and  modern  architecture,  large  and  comfort- 
able. The  Prince  is  about  forty  years  old,  robust,  tall, 
and,  what  is  unusual  with  Arabs,  of  light  blond  com- 
plexion, very  intelligent,  cultivated,  and  an  extensive 

*  Since  our  visit,  he  has  passed  from  life,  and  is  succeeded  by  his  son 
who  promises  well  for  the  future. 


TUNIS.  99 

traveller,  knowing  well  the  French  language  and  French 
people.  He  was  dressed  a  la  franque  (which  means  in  the 
European  costume — or  rather  at  the  mercy  and  in  the 
perverted  taste  of  French  tailors ."..),  and  from  his  ap- 
pearance we  should  have  taken  him  for  an  English  gentle- 
man. After  refreshments  were  served  he  sent  his  secre- 
tary for  "Mademoiselle" — and  soon  there  appeared  a 
young  French  lady,  the  companion-governess  of  his  daugh- 
ters, a  graceful  and  intelligent  lady  of  thirty.  She  was 
dressed  in  Turkish  costume:  a  short  blue  satin  embroid- 
ered jacket  over  a  cream  colored  silk  blouse  and  very  full 
trousers  of  soft  stuff  and  delicate  color.  His  Excellency 
then  informed  me  that  the  Princess  would  be  pleased  to 
receive  me.  Thereupon  Mademoiselle  escorted  me  to  her 
own  room,  where  were  her  two  young-lady  pupils,  and  then 
the  Princess  soon  came  and  led  me  to  her  own  apartments 
which  were  half  European  and  half  Arab  in  style  and  fur- 
niture; all  in  good  taste  and  exquisite  order  and  neatness. 
The  Princess  is  of  commanding  stature,  easy  manners, 
and  very  intelligent.  Our  conversation  was  principally 
upon  hygiene  and  the  ever  important  subject,  the  education 
of  children,  The  two  young  Princesses  were  beautiful  and 
well  educated.  Then  I  had  the  great  honor  of  being  pre- 
sented to  the  venerable  mother  of  the  Prince,  and  widow 
of  the  late  Bey,  M'hammed  Pasha — surrounded  by  her 
court.  (Details  will  be  given  in  Harem  Life.} 

The  excellent  schools  in  Tunis  and  the  Alaoui  College 
are  proofs  of  the  intelligent  action  of  the  French  govern- 
ment. The  Hospital,  in  charge  of  a  French  Doctor,  with 
native  nurses,  was  the  cleanest  I  ever  visited:  Not  an 
odor!  Here,  as  the  Director  led  us  through  the  wards, 
Pere  Hyacinthe  happened  to  see  the  uncovered  face  of  an 
old,  bed-ridden  woman  of  eighty  years,  which  so  shocked 
the  poor  patient  that  she  sent  up  a  wail  of  despair  at  the 
misfortune,  and  went  off  into  hysterics,  crying:  "Only  to 


1OO  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

think  that  I  should  suffer  such  disgrace  to  have  a  strange 
man  behold  my  face,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  just 
as  I  am  about -to  die!" 

Nov.  30,  1895.  Our  days  are  filled  with  sight-seeing 
and  visiting;  and  have  been  marked,  recently,  with  some 
stirring  events.  That  which  has  set  the  papers,  poster- 
pillars,  and  people's  brains  most  ablaze  has  been  the  con- 
ference of  Pere  Hyacinthe.  Another,  which  might  have 
been,  though  less  interesting,  but  more  dangerous,  and 
was  certainly  a  more  stirring  event  for  the  moment,  when 
I  set  myself  ablaze  by  the  explosion  of  my  precious  little 
spirit-lamp, — and  which  prevented  me  from  hearing  my 
husband's  lecture,  but  not  from  enjoying  the  next  unusual 
event:  that  of  attending,  a  few  days  later,  the  marriage 
banquet  of  a  son  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam. 

Nov.  30,  1895.  Last  night  the  conference  was  given 
in  the  Politeama  Tunisine  theatre  which  was  graciously 
offered  by  its  Italian  proprietors.  It  was  densely  crowded. 
The  subject  was  "Reconciliation  of  Races  and  Religions," 
and  the  applause  was  without  measure;  French,  Arabs, 
and  Israelites  being  of  one  accord.  Among  the  impres- 
sions, I  will  give  three  from  each  of  the  three  different 
religions.  An  aged  and  pious  Jew  said  to  me  a  few  days 
after  the  lecture:  "All  Pere  Hyacinthe  said  was  true,  but 
what  pleased  us  most  was  to  know  and  feel  that  there  was 
some  one  among  Christians  who  loved  us  without  any  ap- 
parent, or  hidden,  attempt  to  induce  us  to  forsake  our 
faith! — and  he  is  the  only  one  I  ever  saw!  You  see,"  he 
continued,  "he  puts  himself  in  our  place.  .  .  ." 

Monsieur  le  Commandant  Rebillet,  military  attache  at 
the  Residence,  said  to  us:  "The  conference  of  Pere  Hya- 
cinthe has  produced  a  profound  impression  upon  every- 
one, but  especially  upon  Frenchmen ;  and  though  they  calf 
themselves  Roman  Catholics,  they  feel  the  need  of  some- 


TUNIS.  IOI 

thing  broader,  and  deeper,  and  higher,  and  truer — and 
they  have  found  it  in  Pere  Hyacinthe's  principles."* 

The  eldest  son  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  (he  himself  a 
sheik  and  distinguished  professor  at  the  Madersa)  said 
to  me  after  the  conferences  "In  one  hour  Pere  Hyacinthe 
has  become  the  friend  of  over  two  hundred  million  Mussul- 
mans !" 

In  spite  of  my  burnt  face,  I  went  to  the  marriage  feast 
of  the  second  son  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  though  some  of 
the  European  guests,  seeing  my  thick  black  veil,  thought  I 
had  become  a  Mussulman  outright,  and  others  thought 
that  a.s  I  was  the  only  lady  present,  I  had  thought  it  in  bet- 
ter taste  to  cover  my  face. 

How  easy  it  is  to  be  mistaken!  And  how  deceptive 
are  outward  appearances! 

The  Resident  Minister  was  absent  in  France,  but  his 
charge  d'affaires  represented  him  at  this  marriage  feast, 
with  the  other  principal  members  of  the  government.  The 
banquet  did  full  honor  to  the  host,  the  occasion,  and  the 
guests.  It  was  plenteous,  excellent,  and  well  served,  with 
no  attempt  at  display,  but  a  cordial  and  affectionate  hos- 
pitality pervaded  all.  The  "feast  of  reason  and  flow  of 
soul"  were  superior,  as  there  was  no  flow  of  alcoholic  stim- 
ulants: nothing  but  God's  white  wine — sparkling  cold 
water — and  clear  consciences.  Ah !  what  wisdom  in  Mo- 
hammed! The  interdiction  of  wine  alone  is  enough  to 
guarantee,  not  only  success,  but  a  great  and  permanent 
blessing  on  his  religion !  And  what  makes  Mohammed  the 
greatest  of  reformers  is  that  he  insisted  not  so  much  on 
signs,  rules,  and  ceremonies,  for  the  outer  man,  as  upon 
the  control  of  the  appetites  and  discipline  of  the  inner  man !. 
How  well  he  knew  the  human  heart  and  its  weaknesses  1 

*  It  is  with  great  pain  and  Christian  indignation  that  I  record  the  fact 
that  this  gentleman  and  soldier  of  merit  has  since  been  shot  dead  in  a  duel : 
Cowardly  relic  of  barbarous  state ! 


IO2  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

and  how  well  he  understood  the  prayer  of  Jesus,  "Lead  us 
not  into  temptation.'7 

The  residence  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  is  a  large  and  si- 
lent Moorish  palace,  two  stories  high,  with  a  great  inner 
court  surrounded  with  broad  balconies  hung  with  heavy 
curtains.  At  the  entrance  of  the  palace  is  an  immense 
hall  around  which  are  broad  wicker  divans,  to  be  used 
day  or  night  by  friends  or  strangers,  poor  or  rich,  who 
need  rest,  shelter,  or  sleep.  There  are  no  "tramps"  in 
Islam — all  are  brethren,  all  are  welcome,  and  all  are  pro- 
vided for.  It  is  the  custom  with  Mussulmans  to  place  a 
large  jar  of  water  and  a  c.up  near  their  doors  for  all  pas- 
sers-by who  are  a-thirst ;  and  in  large  cities  one  often  sees 
beautiful  fountains  built  in  the  walls  near  the  entrance  of 
fine  houses,  for  public  use.  (Excellent  object  lessons, 
these,  for  our  bishops  and  princes  of  the  Church  and  other 
rich  Christians .  .  .  . )  Hospitality,  with  the  followers  of 
the  Prophet,  is  not  only  a  cardinal  virtue,  but  an  incumbent 
and  joyful  duty,  and  not  a  relic  of  obsolete  faith,  as  it  is 
too  often  with  the  followers  of  Jesus — of  Him  who  de- 
pended upon  loving  hospitality  for  bread  and  shelter ;  and 
as  did,  for  the  most  part,  His  disciples  whom  He  sent  out 
to  carry  the  Glad  Tidings  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in 
this  world ! 

It  is  a  grand  patriarchal  mansion,  this  residence  of  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam, — with  children,  grandchildren,  nephews, 
cousins,  and  their  children,  as  well  as  other  near  and  far 
relatives,  with  many  servants  and  their  children — children 
everywhere !  and  all  quiet,  well-behaved,  and  good- 
natured.  During  our  conversation,  unbidden  and  unfor- 
bidden,  they  would  occasionally  wander  into  the  room 
where  we  were,  but,  after  a  quiet  look  at  us,  withdrew 
very  discreetly.  Some  were  dark  and  some  white,  but  all 
pretty,  obedient,  and  respectful.  The  ladies  of  the  house- 
hold were,  of  course,  not  to  be  seen  of  men ;  but  I  was  in- 


SUPERIOR  BEDOUIN   SHEIK  AND   FAMILY SEMITIC   TYPE. 


TUNIS.  IO3 

vited  into  the  harem  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
wife  of  the  venerable  patriarch — a  matronly  lady  of  about 
sixty  years,  of  quiet,  dignified  manners,  evident  strength 
of  character  coupled  with  native  wisdom,  and  evidently 
the  respected  centre  of  the  domestic  life.  Here,  as  in  other 
marriage  receptions,  I  have  remarked  the  great  simplicity 
in  the  dress  of  the  mother  of  the  bridegroom,  while  the 
other  ladies  are  richly  attired — the  bride  eclipsing  all.* 

After  the  banquet  and  renewed  adieux  to  the  Sheik, 
when  he  and  Pere  Hyacinthe  embraced  each  other,  he 
begged  us  to  come  often  during  our  stay  in  Tunis,  saying 
that  henceforth  he  should  always  carry  us  in  his  heart; 
and  then,  with  hands  and  eyes  uplifted  toward  Heaven, 
he  solemnly  blessed  God  for  having  brought  us  to  him. 
We  went  away  carrying  within  our  hearts  a  larger  ap- 
preciation of  Islam  and  a  deeper  love  for  all  mankind.  As 
we  went  down  the  steps,  my  husband  said  to  me:  "They 
may  not  acknowledge  or  see  Christ  as  we  do,  but  His 
spirit  dwells  here." 

One  of  the  most  charming  dinners  given  us  was  that 
of  Bechir-Sfar,  President  of  Charitable  Works  (Habous), 
and  Director  of  the  Central  Hospital.  And  I  fear  not  to 
say  that  nowhere  in  Christendom  are  the  poor  so  well 
provided  for  as  among  the  Mussulmans  here  and  in  other 
places — and  this  by  one  of  the  most  wise  and  beneficent 
laws  imposed  upon  man  by  their  common  consent.  This 
it  is:  All  persons  possessing  any  property  whatever,  be- 
queath by  will  or  testament  the  capital  of  their  fortune  to 
their  family  or  to  whom  they  like,  for  two  generations— 
after  which  it  goes  into  the  charity  fund.  The  result  is 
that  in  Tunis,  though  they  have  many  poor,  there  is  a  sur- 
plus of  interest  w^hich  is  loaned — sometimes  to  the  govern- 
ment for  the  maintenance  of  archeological  monuments, 

*  See  Harem  Life  for  an  account  of  my  visits  to  this  beautiful  young 
bride,  and  the  harem  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam. 


IO4  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

and  works  of  public  utility.  What  prevents  our  Christian 
legislation  from  enacting  some  such  law,  that  will  take 
away  our  most  burning  shame:  the  neglect  of  the  poor! 

As  to  the  hospitals,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  principal 
one,  they  are  excellent  in  their  appointments  and  scrupu- 
lously clean,  as  I  have  seldom  seen  anywhere,  and  'I  have 
visited  many  and  worked  in  some. 

The  home  of  Sidi  Bechir-Sfar  is,  in  outward  appear- 
ance, a  plain  windowless  machine-shop  or  prison;  within 
a  white  marble  palace,  and  the  banquet — royal.  The  Arab 
cuisine  is  excellent  and  in  many  things  superior,  even  to 
that  of  France,  particularly  in  the  sweet  dishes,  fifteen 
courses  and  the  service  perfect — by  tall  black  men-servants 
in  spotless  white.  Crystal,  silver,  and  Sevres  china,  with 
finest  linen,  embroidered  in  colored  silk.  The  table  is 
higher  than  ours,  and  the  chairs  accordingly — but  no  side- 
board save  the  polished  white  marble  floor  where,  along 
the  marble  wainscoted  walls,  all  the  service  was  ranged. 
We  were  twelve  guests — I,  alas,  the  only  lady. 

Before  the  dinner,  our  host  took  me  from  the  beauti- 
ful drawing-room  to  the  harem,  where  his  young  Turkish 
wife  and  sister-in-law  were  awaiting  me.  They  were 
gowned  in  stately  robes  and  adorned  with  magnificent 
jewels.  His  young  wife  was  fairer  than  all  her  jewels- 
save  her  infant  son.  Then  after  the  dinner  I  went  again 
and  held  long  conversation  through  her  husband.  She 
was  a  charming  little  Turkish  lady  of  white  and  tender 
rose  complexion,  pearly  teeth,  and  of  exquisite  natural 
grace!  (If  this  is  put  into  Arabic,  she  must  not  read  it! 
And  if  I  offend  any  Moslem  husband  for  venturing  to 
describe  his  lovely  wife — he  must  pardon  me,  as  true  Be- 
lieyers  are  commended  to  do — especially  all  Christians 
imbued  with  good  intentions.) 

It  is  a  duty  to  say  that  Tunis  has  a  most  delightful 
winter  climate,  and  for  those  who  have  throat  or  chest 


TUNIS.  IO5 

affection,  I  can  certainly  recommend  it — from  the  re- 
markable personal  benefits  I  experienced.  With  constant 
visits,  dinners,  and  promenades  in  every  conceivable  way, 
and  with  the  immense  and  most  attractive  souks  or  cov- 
ered bazars,  where  everything  is  to  be  found,  we  had  no 
time  unoccupied. 

The  Regency  offers  florishing  inducements  for  JEuro- 
peans  who  wish  to  inaugurate  modern  life  on  landed  es- 
tates; and  is  certainly  not  without  intellectual  resource. 
For  sterling  people  desirous  of  emigrating,  I — being 
Franco-American — could  scarcely  choose  between  Tunis, 
Algiers,  or  the  West  in  the  United  States.  For  those  who 
speak  French  only,  I  should  say  North  Africa;  for  those 
who  know  English — America. 


H 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. 

ERE  are  some  letters  which  give  an  idea  of  the 
doctrine  and  spirit  of  the  religion  of  Mohammed. 


A  Letter  from  the  Author  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Everett 
Hale,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

TUNIS,  December,  1895. 
DEAR,  REVEREND  ERIEND: 

Remembering  our  conversation,  in  Paris  and  Boston, 
upon  the  Unity  of  Religions,  (and  what  admirable  juxta- 
position that  snowy  white  Christmas  in  your  home  in 
Roxbury,  and  our  Galican  church  in  the  Rue  d' Arras!) 
I  must  tell  you  that  we — Pere  Hyacinthe  and  I — have 
spoken  of  you  very  often  of  late,  and  necessarily  of  Chan- 
ning  and  the  other  leaders  of  religious  thought  of  New 
England — in  our  study  of  this  great  Unitarian  Church  of 
Islam,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  are  moving.  And  I  can- 
not forbear  relating  one  of  our  experiences,  which,  I  am 
sure,  will  interest  you, — not  only  as  a  Unitarian  and 
Leader  in  the  great  New  England  "Departure,"  but  as  a 
Human-itarian  and  Follower  of  Christ,  who  seeks  some 
means  whereby  religious  sects  may  cease  their  animosi- 
ties and  persecutions,  to  say  nothing  of  these  inhuman 
despotisms  and  monstrous  massacres  which  still  disgrace 
Christian  lands  throughout  the  world!  Our  prayer  of  an- 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. 

guish  is  that  the  Father  of  all  Mercies  may  put  it  into  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  Christian  governments  (if  there  be 
such  upon  the  face  of  the  earth!)  and  their  ambassadors, 
to  put  an  end  to  this  direful  work  which  is,  at  times,  too 
horrible  for  the  human  mind  to  bear !  And  we  are  con- 
vinced there  is  but  one  really  efficacious  means  of  perma- 
nent peace  between  the  millions  of  Christians  and  Mussul- 
mans— many  of  whose  provinces  touch  each  other,  and 
who  are  necessarily  coming  more  and  more  into  contact — 
and  that  is,  for  all  believers  to  meet  on  the  only  and  high 
platform  of  The  Unity  of  God. 

Unification  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable.  Recon-\ 
ciliation  of  various  religious  beliefs  in  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man  is  the  only  remedy  for  all  this  world's  ills.  There 
is  no  reason  why  the  purest  exponent  of  highest  Chris- 
tianity should  not  give  his  hand  to  the  humblest,  or  wicked- 
est believer  in  the  same  Heavenly  Father  and  say  to  him : 
"You  are  my  brother!" — nor  to  the  lowest  barbarian: 
"Stand  up,  you,  too,  are  my  brother !  Let  us  live  in  peace! 
Let  us  follow  good  conduct,  and  help  each  other !" 

Here,  in  Tunis,  we  are  frequently  the  guests  of  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam,  Ahmed-Bel-Khodja,  who  is  not  only  the 
most  distinguished  Moslem  in  Tunis — both  by  his  eminent 
position,  which  is  highest  after  that  of  the  Bey,  and  by 
his  ancient  family — but  by  his  learning  and  piety.  His 
authority  on  religious  questions  is  great  throughout  Is- 
lam, even  with  the  Kalif-Sultan  himself.  He  possesses 
a  remarkably  cultivated  mind,  open  to  science  and  reform, 
having  charity  for  all  men;  and,  though  he  is  a. most  de- 
vout Mussulman,  or,  I  should  say  because  of  it, — he  has 
consideration  for  the  opinions  of  others,  without  prejudice 
or  fanaticism.  He  is  respected  by  all  Christians  who  know 
him,  and  venerated  by  all  Mussulmans.  We  had  been  in- 
vited to  a  reception  and  banquet  upon  the  marriage  of 
one  of  his  sons;  and  we  were  expected  early  in  the  after- 


108  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

noon,  that  we  might  have  ample  time  for  conversation 
before  the  other  guests  arrived.  He  sent  his  carriage  to 
take  us  to  his  residence  which  is  in  the  center  of  the  -old 
Arabic  city.  It  was  a  fine,  though  very  ancient  vehicle,  with 
pale,  yellow  satin  lining,  beveled  plate  glass,  and  drawn 
by  two  large  white  mules,  like  those  of  the  Bey,  with  Arab 
coachman  and  footman  in  their  picturesque  costumes. 
We  drove  through  the  labyrinthine  streets  until  we  were 
met — as  Oriental  custom  demands — by  the  eldest  son  of 
our  host,  who  is  also  a  sheik,  and  were  soon  conducted 
through  courts  and  upstairs  into  a  large,  well-furnished 
room,  and  into  the  presence  of  the  venerable  Sheik-ul- 
Islam. 

Of  Arab  race,  about  sixty-five  years  old,  powerfully 
built,  large  head  with  full  developed  forehead,  light  intelli- 
gent eyes,  and  a  face  beaming  with  benevolence ;  it  required 
but  a  glance  to  show  us  that  we  were  in  the  presence  of 
a  good  and  great  man.  His  reception  was  as  unaffected 
as  it  was  cordial.  He  was  seated  in  a  large  arm-chair 
from  which  he  did  not  rise,  for  he  is  an  invalid;  and  was 
surrounded  by  his  sons,  nephews,  secretaries,  and  inter- 
preters ;  his  French  Doctor  was  also  present, — all  of  whom 
revealed  by  their  attitude  the  profound  veneration  in  which 
he  is  held.  He  bade  me  to  occupy  the  fauteuil  of  honor  at 
his  right  hand,  and  Pere  Hyacinthe  occupied  a  chair  di- 
rectly in  front  of  him.  The  Scriptural  "cup  of  cold  water" 
was  immediately  given,  in  large  crystal  glasses.  The 
Sheik,  on  this  occasion,  besides  the  usual  interpreters,  had 
two  official  ones,  of  whom  one  was  a  Christian:  one  for 
Pere  Hyacinthe,  the  other  for  me.  His  sons  and  nephews 
acted  as  scribes,  all  writing  with  reed  pens,  the  paper  held 
in  the  palm  of  the  left  hand.  He  spoke  in  Arabic  and  we 
in  French,  and  all  we  said  was  immediately  translated 
and  transcribed  in  Arabic,  not  only  for  his  personal  peru- 
sal, but  as  he  said,  to  be  included  in  his  archives.  His 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.  IO9 

interrogations  and  replies  were  all  given  with  deliberation, 
precision;  and  in  a  solemn,  and  prophetic  style,  with  broad, 
befitting  gestures.  We  had  two  hours  of  interesting  and 
remarkably  frank  conversation,  which  was  a  combined 
course  of  Moslem  and  Christian  theology,  with  something 
of  human  philosophy.  In  this  remarkable  man  and  all 
the  surroundings  of  the  house  and  city,  we  felt  we  were 
approaching  the  lands  where  dwell  the  prophets.  The 
Arabic  mind  is  little  given  to  philosophy  and  less  to  meta- 
physics, but  is  superior  in  religion  and  transcendentalism. 

The  Moslem  bears  the  most  incisive  criticism  with  per- 
fect good  grace,  as  we  have  seldom  found  Christians  able 
to  do,  and  thanks  you  to  boot  for  giving  it,  which,  also, 
we  have  seldom  found  Christians  able  to  do.  But  woe  to 
to  them  who  seem  to  reflect  upon  the  Great  First  cause: 
Allah,  or  upon  His  prophets;  and  Jesus  and  Mohammed 
are  alike  defended.  With  them,  if  not  in  our  day,  certainly 
in  the  time  of  the  great  Mohammedan  Crusade,  as  with 
Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ,  blasphemy  is  considered  worthy 
of  death ;  and  the  Old  Testament  quite  outdoes  the  Koran 
in  its  recommendations  of  slaughter ....  It  was  for  this 
imputed  sin  of  blasphemy  that  Jesus  was  crucified;  and 
for  this  same  sin  of  blasphemy  one  of  my  Protestant 
friends  saw,  a  short  time  ago  in  Asia  Minor,  the  Arme- 
nians killed  who  mocked  the  Mussulmans  at  prayer  in  a 
mosque. 

Dr.  John  Henry  Barrows  who  came  to  see  us  lately  in 
Paris,  told  us  how,  not  long  ago  in  Turkey,  where  he  was 
travelling,  a  Moslem  was  bastinadoed  by  the  authorities 
in  the  public  square,  for  having  spoken  slightingly  of 
Jesus.  Without  the  least  excuse  or  shadow  of  palliation 
for  these  horrible  massacres  on  the  part  of  Mussulmans, 
nor  for  their  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  Christians, 
we  can  say  that  it  is  evident  that  Moslems  take  religion 
more  seriously  than  we  do.  We  know  how  with  the  Jews 


IIO  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

humanitarian  sentiments,  with  the  lapse  of  time,  found 
their  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  people;  and  we  believe  it 
will  do  so  with  the  hearts  of  Mussulmans.  Only  let  Chris- 
tian people,  individuals  and  powers,  do  their  duty  and  be- 
gin by  example ! 

After  this  perhaps  not  malapropos  disgression  we  will 
return  to  our  visit  to  the  venerable  Sheik-ul-Islam,  and  to 
our  subject,  which  concerns  you,  somewhat,  our  Venerable 
Unitarian  Sheik! 

After  the  cup  of  cold  water,  tiny  cups  of  coffee  were 
served,  when  His  Holiness  turned  to  me,  with  a  sympa- 
thetic countenance,  exclaiming:  "And  you,  Madame,  you 
have  in  your  great  country,  America,  many  wonderful 
things  and  very  many  blessings!  Were  you  born  in  that 
happy  country?  or  were  you  born  in  France?  that  other 
country  which  we  all  love,  and  I  am  quite  sure  you  love 
them  both." 

I  replied:  "If  I  am  above  all  French,  I  am  first  of  all 
American.  I  was  born  a  Puritan  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race — of  a  New  England  family;  and  in  espousing  my 
husband,  I  have  espoused,  not  only  his  cause,  but  his 
country." 

"Ah  then,"  he  answered,  "you  are  a  child  of  freedom 
and  an  enemy  of  persecution,  and  you  are  right!  The 
time  of  hatred  and  warfare  is  passed!  You  have,  to-day, 
in  the  United  States,  a  body  of  people  who  believe  as  we 
do  respecting  the  Unity  of  God." 

"You  doubtless  mean  the  followers  of  Channing?"  I 
asked. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "but  pray  tell  me  something  of 
these  people.  Do  you  know  them  personally?  Are  they 
True  Believers?" 

I  begged  to  ask  the  great  Sheik  what  he  meant  by 
True  Believers. 

After  a  moment's  silence  he  replied  with  solemn  em- 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.  Ill 

phasis:  "It  is  this:  True  Believers  are  those  who  recog- 
nise and  admit  of  One  Only  God  whose  exclusive  worship 
was  enjoined  by  Himself  through  Moses  and  again 
through  Jesus,  who  is  the  Essence  of  His  Soul.  It  is  im- 
possible to  believe  or  to  conceive  of  three  Gods  in  One, 
which  is  a  polytheistic  monstrosity  and  leads  to  idolatrous 
worship,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all  sins !" 

I  was  able  to  reassure  my  interlocutor  on  this  point, 
as  to  the  belief  of  Unitarians  in  America. 

Then  he  asked:  "Are  they  followers  of  Jesus?" 

To  this  I  replied:  "They  are  disciples  of  Channing, 
and  are  called  Unitarians  because  they  believe  in  the  Unity 
of  God,  and  some,  whom  I  have  known,  are  indeed  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus ;"  and  here  I  mentioned  the  names  of  some 
personal  friends,  among  which  was  that  of  Longfellow. 
At  the  name  of  the  great  poet  the  Sheik,  scribes,  and  inter- 
preters uttered  exclamations  of  satisfaction,  saying:  "We 
have  heard  of  him  through  our  Arab  papers,  and  we 
know  he  had  a  noble  heart,  a  beautiful  and  true  spirit,  and 
that  he  was  a  believing  soul." 

With  the  permission  of  the  venerable  Sheik,  other  ques- 
tions were  asked  by  his  attendants;  one  wras  this:  "Was 
Channing  considered  a  prophet?"  My  reply  was  in  this 
wise:  "They  do  not  call  him  such,  but  I  think  in  justice, 
he  might  be  called  a  Saint,  more  than  some  who  receive 
canonisation ;  for  he  did  more  to  destroy  theological  hatred 
in  the  region  wrhere  he  lived  than  any  one  man  since  the 
time  when  zealous  Christians  burnt  people  alive  for  not 
thinking  as  they  did  on  religious  questions." 

"Oh,"  replied  the  good  Sheik,  with  an  accent  of  com- 
miseration for  us,  "that  was  when  you  were  still  pagans, 
or  barbarians — I  forget  which — which  were  you?  I  ask 
in  all  respect." 

I  replied  without  hesitation:  "We  were  a  little,  or 
rather,  a  good  deal,  of  both, — as  are  all  men  who  kill 


112  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

people  to  make  them  think  as  they  do,  or  to  make  them 
better, — as  many  of  the  first  Christian  peoples  still  do  with 
criminals;  but  nominally  we  were  'Orthodox  Christians/ 
who  conscientiously  burnt  what  we  called  'Heterodox 
Christians'  I" 

There  was  a  smothered  and  involuntary  groan  among 
the  Moslems — with  a  look  of  pity  on  their  faces,  and  there 
was  nothing  further  said  on  that  subject,  The  inter- 
preters and  scribes,  and  all  the  rest  of  us,  fell  into  silence 
for  a  few  moments.  Then  I  detected  some  hesitation  on 
the  part  of  the  pens,  and  exchange  of  interrogatory  looks 
on  the  part  of  the  scribes.  I  understood  it  and  said: 
"Write  it  down,  write  it  all  down,  for  it  is  true,  and  we 
need  humiliation." 

The  venerable  Sheik  took  my  hand  and  pressed  it  in 
sympathy,  and  then  that  of  my  husband,  raising  his  eyes 
to  Heaven  invoking  "Allah — ever  Merciful." 

I  will  only  add  to  my  letter,  dear  Dr.  Hale,  that  while 
Unitarians  may  be  diminishing  as  your  "church  members," 
they  are  augmenting,  not  only  in  all  other  Churches  and 
with  every  child  born  throughout  the  Mussulman  world, 
but  by  hundreds  of.  thousands  converted  every  year  from 
paganism,  or  savagery,  throughout  the  primitive  peoples, 
particularly  in  Africa.  And  I  will  say  also  that  if  you 
Unitarians  of  Boston  are  by  belief  Christians — so  are 
these  Moslems  who  hold  as  firmly  as  do  you  to  the  great 
fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Deity — and  moreover,  look 
for  the  coming  again  of  the  Messiah — our  Christ  who 
was  announced  by  the  ancient  prophets. 

I  remain,  Dear  Venerable  Brother,  yours  devotedly 
in  their  prophecy  and  in  the  following  of  Jesus. 

EMILIE  HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. 


Letter  from  Pere  Hyacinthe  to  the  Sheik-ul-Islam. 

TUNIS,  20.  Djoumadi-Ettani  1313. 
(December  6,  1895.) 

DEAR  AND  VENERABLE  SHEIK-UL-!SLAM  : 

The  hours  passed  in  your  hospitable  house  will  count 
among  the  best  of  my  life.  I  shall  remember,  above  all,  the 
beautiful  and  most  touching  feast  you  gave  for  the  mar- 
riage of  your  son,  in  which  you  invited  Madame  Loyson 
and  myself  to  join,  as  if  we  were  old  friends. 

It  seemed  as  if  we  were  assembled  beneath  the  tent 
of  the  ancient  patriarchs,  Abraham  and  Jacob,  whose  faith 
and  virtues  you  continue ;  and  I  salute  in  your  person  one 
of  those  priest-kings  who  are  no  longer  to  be  found  save 
in  Islam. 

You  have  won  my  heart,  dear,  venerable  Sheik,  and  I 
leave  it  with  you ;  I  leave  you  something  of  my  soul  also : 
the  heart  is  for  the  Friend —  the  soul  is  for  the  Believer. 

You  are  Mussulman  and  I  am  Christian :  yet,  however, 
I  feel  that  we  are  indeed  of  the  same  religion,  for  we  both 
love  and  adore  the  same  God! 

And  in  Him  I  shall  ever  remain  your  faithful  friend 
and  brother. 

HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 

Letter  from  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  of  Tunis. 

[It  is  my  duty  to  say  that  I  am  obliged  to  give  what  I  know  is  a  poor 
translation,  though  the  ideas  are  correctly  given,  of  this  epistle,  which  is 
written  in  the  beautiful  rhythmic  Arabic,  with  the  most  elevated  sentiments, 
and  in  Scriptural  style.  E.  H.  L.] 

To  MONSIEUR  HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 

Praise  be  to  God,  than  Whom  there  is  no  other  God! 

To  the  learned,  eloquent,  and  sublime  Preacher,  whose 
reputation  is  universal,  whose  logic  is  perfect,  who  pro- 


114  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

fesses  monotheism,  who  distinguishes  himself  by  rising 
high  above  all  beliefs  which  are  abasing  to  the  soul  or 
revolting  to  the  ear;  and  which  are,  therefore,  rejected 
by  the  reason  as  untrue. 

And  first  of  all  accept  my  wishes  for  the  continuation 
of  your  happines. 

Your  dear  letter  has  reached  me,  and  I  receive  it  with 
great  joy,  coming  as  it  did,  from  a  friend  of  such  eminence 
as  yourself.  Would  to  God  that  the  hours  we  passed  to- 
gether had  been  years !  I  spent  the  night  after  our  meet- 
ing in  a  state  of  grateful  happiness  at  having  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Preacher,  the  Savant,  the  Great  Euro- 
pean, who  sought  me  out  and  came  to  see  me ;  and  between 
whom  and  myself  there  was  born  an  immediate  and  recip- 
rocal sympathy.  Another  cause  of  joy  to  us  has  been  the 
acquaintance  of  Madame  Loyson,  for  she  is  an  eminent 
woman,  of  sound  reasoning  powers,  monotheist,  as  we 
are,  worshipping  the  One  and  Only  God,  as  we  ourselves 
do.  And  we  are  thus  encompassed,  as  it  were,  by  an 
ocean  of  scientific  and  Scriptural  knowledge,  which  is  the 
soul-life  of  the  wise.  An  Arab  adage  says :  "The  acquaint- 
ance of  men  of  wisdom  is  the  possession  of  great  treasure." 

And  furthermore,  my  friend,  you  have  won  my  heart, 
and  you  carry  it  away  with  you  and  Madame  Loyson; 
and  I  can  hardly  know  whether  it  is  to  you  or  to  my  heart 
I  am  bidding  farewell!  It  is  indeed  lamentable  that  you 
cannot  remain  longer  in  our  midst! 

I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  a  page  from  a  book 
which  I  am  writing,  and  which  I  would  have  liked  to  com- 
plete and  dedicate  to  you  before  your  departure ;  but  alas ! 
in  my  poor  health,  it  is  impossible ;  and  we  must  all  incline 
before  the  Will  of  God.  But  I  will,  nevertheless,  give  you 
the  substance  of  what  I  wished  to  write  for  you  more  fully. 
It  is  this: 

"Mussulmans  profess  the  true  religion  of  Jesus,  freed 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.  115 

from  impurities,  and  therein  consists  the  teaching  of  the 
Koran.  It  differs  from  Christianity  upon  three  points 
only.  As  far  as  two  of  them  are  concerned,  they  are  based 
upon  the  witness  of  the  Koran,  and  of  the  other  sacred 
books  which  preceded  it;  also  upon  decisive  arguments  of 
a  rational  nature.* 

With  regard  to  one  of  these  two  first  differences,  viz., 
that  Jesus  is  the  son  of  God,  the  reason  shows  the  falsity 
of  this,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  the  allegation  is 
an  odious  one,  in  support  of  which  there  is  not  the  shade 
of  a  rational  or  traditional  proof.  In  a  word,  how  can 
the  Ancient  of  Days — the  pre-Existent,  which  is  without 
beginning, — the  Eternal,  which  can  have  no  ending, — 
whose  existence  is  a  necessity,  whose  very  nature  implies 
existence, — with  whom  the  chain  of  possibility  begins  and 
ends,  the  Superior  Being,  whose  nature  man's  reason  is 
incapable  of  comprehending, — whose  intimate  nature  can- 
not be  known  through  reasoning  or  informatory  sources, 
—how  can  such  a  One  occupy  material  place  or  space, 
among  created  beings  upon  earth,  which  might  or  might 
not  exist,  and  is  subject  to  the  will  of  man, — which  is 
contingent — which  exists  after  not  having  existed!  Ah! 
Yes,  verily,  He  (Jesus)  was  a  messenger  of  God!  The 
nearest  to  God's  favor,  glorified,  honored,  exalted!  but 
one  of  His  servants  withal.  Jesus  himself  (May  He  and 
our  Prophet  be  blessed  and  protected  above  all!),  Jesus 
recognised  that  He  was  a  servant  of  God,  recognised  God 
as  His  master,  and  commanded  that  He  only  should  be 
adored,  as  the  Koran  directs  in  innumerable  passages. 

Thus  the  Mussulmans,  in  what  concerns  Jesus  (may 
He  ever  be  revered!)  occupy  an  intermediary  position. 
They  say  that  He  was  the  Chosen  Servant  of  God,  His 
Special  Messenger  to  His  other  servants;  illustrious,  fa- 

*  Alohammed  gives  the  Old  Testament  the  first  place  among  the  an- 
cient books,  and  holds  the  New  Testament  as  sacred.  E.  H.  L. 


Il6  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

vored,  and  honored;  and  that  our  Prophet  bore  witness  to 
His  glory.  They  do  not  depreciate  Him  as  did  the  Jews, 
whom  God  has  punished  for  not  recognising  Him,  nor 
do  they  exaggerate  His  worth  as  do  Christians,  who  say 
that  He  is  God! 

The  second  point  of  difference  between  us  is  the  pro- 
phetic mission  of  Mohammed.  Traditional  proof,  rational 
and  decisive  proof,  everything  establishes  his  mission.  It 
was  of  him  that  Jesus  spoke  when  He  announced  the  Para- 
clete, so  that  herein  the  Mussulmans  obey  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  Of  him  also  Moses  spoke,  and  there  are  clear 
proofs  of  this. 

The  third  point  is  that  the  precious  Koran  declares  that 
Jesus  was  not  slain  by  the  Jews,  but  some  one  whom  God 
delivered  up  to  them,  a  man  in  his  likeness,  whom  they 
slew,  after  he  himself  had  consented  to  be  slain.  Learned 
Mussulmans  have  written  at  length  upon  the  identity  of 
him  who  was  thus  slain  in  His  stead,  and  you,  my  friend, 
will  not  wonder  at  this  for  He  who  created  the  world  can 
well  have  created  a  man  in  the  likeness  of  Jesus. 

You  have  proof,  therefore,  that  Mussulmans  really 
exalt  Jesus  more  than  do  Christians.  In  as  much  as, 
though  he  was  not,  and  could  not  be,  the  Son  of  God,  he 
was  the  Soul  of  God !  and  therefore  it  was  not  permitted, 
nor  possible,  for  him  to  be  slain  of  men ! 

/  am  sad  at  our  parting,  O  my  brother  in  the  One 
Living  God! 

Written  the  iQth  Djoumada  Nauia,  1313,  or  the  7th 
December,  1895. — In  the  writer's  own  hand. 

AH  MED-BEN-EL-KHOD  j  A. 


MADAME  HYAC1NTHE  LOYSON. 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.  117 


Letter  to  Perc  Hyacinthe  from  Leading  Mussulmans  of 

Tunis. 

(Translated  from  the  Arabic.) 

TUNIS,  December  2,  1895. 
DEAR  AND  REVEREND  FATHER: 

The  undersigned  Mussulmans,  with  a  unanimous 
impulse  of  admiration  for  the  ideas  which  you  have  de- 
veloped in  such  a  masterly  way  in  your  conference  of  last 
Friday,  desire  to  offer  to  you  their  respectful  homage  and 
gratitude. 

The  idea  of  a  rapprochement*  between  two  great  re- 
ligions— an  idea  with  which  we  are  in  full  sympathy — 
has  recently  engaged  the  attention  of  many  eminent  think- 
ers, of  whom  Europe  is  justly  proud;  and  who,  rising 
above  vulgar  prejudices,  look  forward  to  a  future  of  peace 
and  blessedness  for  humanity.  It  required,  however,  the 
authority  of  your  name,  the  prestige  of  your  eloquence, 
and  the  profundity  of  your  knowledge,  to  be  able  to  affirm 
the  practicability  of  this  idea,  and  to  indicate  the  means 
of  its  realisation.  But  above  all  it  required  your  courage 
to  attack  existing  prejudices  against  Islam. 

We  offer  you,  then,  our  thanks,  Dear  and  Reverend 
Father,  for  having  spoken  of  what  you  think  is  good  in 
our  religion,  which  is  based,  as  you  know,  upon  Justice 
and  Tolerance.  And  if  your  generous  spirit,  yielding  to 
the  inspiration  of  a  large  philanthropy,  has  foreseen,  in 
the  interest  of  two  great  fractions  of  the  human  race,  a 
Golden  Age  which  would  crown  the  work  to  which  you 
are  consecrated,  your  wise  intuition  as  a  Frenchman  and 
a  patriot,  has  also  suggested  to  you  what  immense  advan- 
tage France  would  derive  from  a  Franco-Mussulman  al- 
liance; while  we,  the  undersigned,  convinced  of  the  bene- 

*  Strictly  speaking :  "A  coming  together  in  friendly  relations." 


Il8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

fits  which  would  result  to  Mussulmans  from  a  rapproche- 
ment— which  there  is  really  nothing  to  prevent — thank 
you  from  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  for  having  placed  at 
the  service  of  this  pregnant  idea  your  warm  and  pene- 
trating eloquence ;  and  pray  God  to  aid  you  in  the  attain- 
ment of  the  noble  object  which  you  pursue! 

(Here  follow  the  signatures  of  thirty  of  the  most  distinguished  Moslems 
in  Tunis:  including  members  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Mosque, 
professors  of  science,  literary  men,  governmental  officers,  etc.) 

The  Reply  Sent  to  the  Mussulmans  of  Tunis  by  Pere 

Hyacinthe. 

TUNIS,  December  14,  1895. 
GENTLEMEN  AND  DEAR  FRIENDS: 

On  the  point  of  leaving  you  to  continue  my  travel  in 
the  lands  of  Islam:  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Turkey,  and  to 
accomplish  my  pilgrimage  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  which 
you  call  (as  we  do)  the  Holy  City,  I  should  be  neglecting 
a  duty  in  omitting  to  write  and  thank  you  for  the  noble 
letter  which  you  have  written  me  after  my  conference, 
and  for  the  many  proofs  of  high  and  touching  sympathy 
which  you  have  shown  me.  Such  proofs  of  sympathy 
have  a  double  value:  that  of  the  consolation  they  bring 
to  him  who  receives  them,  and,  greater  value  still,  that 
of  the  happy  events  of  which  such  proofs  of  sympathy  are 
the  forerunners. 

Men  who  speak  as  you  do,  my  dear  friends,  will  act 
still  better  than  they  speak.  Such  men  will  realise  a 
still  greater  future  in  Tunis,  it  being  an  exceptional 
centre  from  whence  the  light  will  shine  afar, — and  that 
future,  I,  for  my  part,  am  justified  in  announcing  to-day. 
Such  a  future,  which  the  present  already  foreshadows,  is : 
the  union  of  two  great  races,  capable  of  understanding 
each  other,  the  Arab  and  the  Frenchman;  the  reconcilia- 


PERE    HYACINTHE    LOYSON. 


THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.  1 19 

tion  of  two  great  religions  which  should  cease  to  be  hostile 
while  remaining  distinct ;  the  religion  of  the  powerful  hu- 
man organiser — Mohammed,  and  the  religion  of  the  su- 
preme Heavenly  Initiator — Jesus  Christ. 

You  are  Mussulmans,  I  am  Christian.  Let  us  remain1 
so,  my  clear  friends,  distinct,  I  repeat,  but  not  divided. 
And,  as  in  the  days  of  ancient  miracles,  we  will  celebrate 
in  different  tongues  the  glories  of  the  same  God,  the  Only 
God>  the  Personal  and  Living  God;  wrhile  at  the  same 
time  we  will  develop  and  extend,  under  various  forms,  the 
glories  of  one  civilisation:  the  Franco-Mussulman. 

A  Dieu,  et  au  revoir! 

HYACINTHE  LOYSON. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MALTA. 

WE  left  Tunis  with  great  reluctance — but  the  oft 
delayed  departure  had  arrived  at  last,  and  as 
we  sailed  before  Carthage  in  the  opaline  waves,  out  into 
the  broad  blue  sea,  we  had  but  the  one  persistent  con- 
solation:— we  were  sailing  Eastward! 

One  subject  occupied  our  thoughts  above  all  others 
as,  twenty-four  hours  later,  we  skirted  the  shores  of 
Malta ;  and  it  was  not  that  great  modern  steamer  in  which 
we  sailed,  or  anything  therein,  but  that  little  barge,  which, 
nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  brought  into  an  inlet  here, 
the  Great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  And  one  desire  pos- 
sessed us:  to  stand  upon  the  spot  where  St.  Paul  landed 
out  of  the  great  storm,  after  the  long  fast  and  shipwreck, 
as  he  went  to  Rome :  to  Rome — to  be  tried — and  beheaded ! 

And  what  a  change  between  this  Christian  land  of 
formidable  fortifications  all  terraced  with  cannon  and  filled 
with  soldiers,  and  the  land  of  Islam  which  we  had  just 
left !  No  .white-draped  Arabs,  but  Oh !  so  many  black- 
robed  priests!  and  English  soldiers,  with  the  picturesque 
Highland  kilts  cut  into  plaid  pantaloons.  ...  (Ministers 
of  war,  defend  us !) 

The  first  day  we  visited  the  city,  and  the  second  we 
drove  two  hours  over  the  stony  island  to  the  coast,  where 
history  marks  the  spot  we  sought.  With  the  Sacred  Story 
open  in  our  hands  we  approached  the  place  with  deep  emo- 


MALTA.  121 

tion.  Everything  became  interesting:  the  conformation 
of  the  hills,  the  indenture  of  the  shore,  the  rocks  and  earth 
where  he  had  stood — The  Grand  Pilgrim  Prisoner  of  the 
Gospel!  And  now  we  came  to  the  lone  house  near  the 
innermost  bend  of  the.  inlet,  where  we  hoped  to  find  pre- 
cious indications  of  the  sacred  place.  Our  feelings  may 
perhaps  be  imagined — certainly  we  cannot  express  them — 
when  we  read  painted  in  large  English  letters  across  the 
wayside  inn,  these  words:  This  is  the  last  chance  to  get 
your  grog. 

Alas!  for  the  Greater  Island! — Christian  England!  It 
were  far  easier  for  St.  Paul  to  shake  off  the  viper  that 
stung  his  hand  in  this  little  cove  at  Malta,  than  for  you  to 
get  rid  of  that  viper  which  you  carry  into  every  port  where 
your  ships  cast  anchor,  stinging  the  hearts  of  the  people 
throughout  the  earth:  the  venomous  adder  of  alcohol! 
Under  the  pretext  of  "free  trade"  you  are  the  prime  factor 
in  sending  the  human  race  to  hideous  destruction  through 
the  unquenchable  fire  of  lustful  appetites!  Sorry  it  is 
that  you  are  not  alone  in  this  nefarious  traffic:  America, 
Holland,  and  other  leading  Christian  nations — and  also 
the  smaller  ones,  alike  ambitious,  are  with  you.  In  the 
finest  hotel  in  Malta  we  counted  21  advertisements  of  the 
universal  poison:  Old  Irish  and  Scotch  whiskies,  gin,  Ja- 
maica rum,  Russian  eau-de-vie,  American  bitters,  brandy, 
French  cognac,  etc.,  etc.  I  write  this  with  sorrow  and 
shame  for  I  belong  to  three  of  these  foremost  races.  But 
England  is  the  greatest  sinner,  for  she  has  the  monopoly 
of  transportation,  and  would  have  that  of  Christianity.  . . 
With  her  right  hand  she  gives  to  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  the  Bible,  the  Law  of  Eternal  Life,  which  some  poor 
savages  burn; — with  her  left  and  under  hand  she  gives 
the  deadly  poisons  of  alcohol  and  opium,  which  burn  and 
destroy  the  hearts  and  souls  of  many  who  are  and  who  are 
not  savages ....  and  with  her  wide-spread  army  another 


122  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

still  more  damning  poison,  called  the  "nameless" — for 
their  ruin,  destruction,  death !  In  justice  we  must  say,  she 
is  not  the  major  culpable  in  the  other  poison,  which  stupe- 
fies conscience,  strangles  the  affections,  and  kills  faith: 
nicotine. 

Build  up  your  battlements,  Great,  Old  England!  send 
out  your  fleets  to  conquer,  surprise,  or  deceive!  Unfurl 
your  flag  around  the  world !  What  boots  it  all,  with  that 
adder  at  your  heart? 

Beware,  lest  you  deceive  yourself — oh,  my  people! 
There  is  a  reckoning  day  in  store  for  the  nations! 

The  Maltese  are  a  mixed  race  of  Spanish,  Portugese, 
Arabs,  and  Europeans,  and  the  "crossing"-— which  has 
not  been  "selection"  but  imposition — has  not  produced 
happy  or  beautiful  results.  (Darwin  would  have  wept 
had  he  ever  visited  Malta!)  But  it  is  alcohol,  with  the 
other  vices  just  named,  more  than  all  else,  which  has 
destroyed  the  beauty  of  the  people.  Their  religion:  the 
Roman,  arch-Roman,  is  certainly  not  that  which  Paul  car- 
ried to  Rome.  The  Noble  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Malta 
is  become  the  Degenerate  Order  of  Bigots ! 

It  seems  that  the  presence  of  the  married  monk  and 
his  wife  had  been  noised  about,  and  the  advisability  of  our 
visiting  the  churches  was  discussed — not  by  us,  but  by 
others  who  feared  the  people.  We  were  duly  warned  of 
the  fanaticism  of  the  priests,  and  the  danger.  Of  course 
we  visited  the  churches  at  once — not  only  to  see  if  there 
was  really  any  danger — but  because  therein  was  some  of 
the  most  valuable  history  of  the  Knight  Templars;  and, 
as  it  was  Sunday,  we  remained  to  service,  occupying  places 
in  the  midle  of  the  fine  old  cathedral.  We  had  no  difficulty 
in  perceiving,  from  the  first,  that  our  presence  was  re- 
marked. Of  all  the  clergy  in  the  long  procession  that 
passed,  not  one  failed  to  give  us  a  look,  and  a  long  and  a 
strong  one,  but  not  one  of  hostility ;  for  it  is  not  the  priests 


MALTA.  123 

who  are  opposed  to  sacerdotal  marriage,  nor  even  the 
bishops;  but  the  unrighteous,  ecclesiastico-political  power 
back  of  them,  whose  servile,  sinning  tools  they  are,  alas! 
too  often;  and  who  are  the  sorrowfullest  caste  of  men  on 
the  face  of  this  beautiful  earth ! 

When  the  service  was  ended,  we  noticed  that  inside  the 
cathedral,  near  the  door,  about  two  hundred  curious-  and 
anxious  persons  lingered  to  see  the  outcome.  We  went 
to  the  sacristy  and  asked  for  the  custodian  to  show  us  the 
church,  and  explain  its  historical  stones  and  pictures. 
Forthwith,  the  best  guide  was  sent  for,  who  showed  us 
the  whole  edifice,  with  intelligence  and  great  politeness. 
Still  they  lingered,  many  of  those  curious  natives — and 
some  followed  us  even  to  the  door  of  our  hotel — with  ir- 
repressible curiosity,  but  with  perfect  respect.  Thus  in 
the  most  bigoted  countries  as  well  as  in  France  and  other 
Latin  countries,  the  clergy  is  with  us.  But,  of  course, 
they  dare  not  yet  speak  out.  Another  century  will  see  this 
unrighteous  and  unholy  yoke  taken  from  the  neck  of  the 
entire  Christian  clergy — East  and  West!  or  the  Churches 
will  exist  only  in  dead  letter ! 

Our  maitre  d' hot  el  was  a  man  of  importance  in  the 
town,  and  waylaying  us  discreetly  in  the  corridor  as  we 
went  down  to  dinner  that  evening,  told  us  that  the  whole 
town  was  excited,  and  that  everybody  thought  that  the 
best  thing  priests  could  do  would  be  to  marry!  and  that 
one  of  the  vicars  of  the  cathedral  had  told  them  that  very 
afternoon,  as  we  came  out  ofthe  church,  that  the  Apostles 
themselves  were  married!  "Just  think  of  it!"  said  he. 
And  then  to  show  that  he  was  a  man  of  Scriptural  learn- 
ing as  well  as  of  civic  consequence — joining  his  hands  in 
a  very  devotional  manner — for  he  was  a  very  pious  Roman 
Catholic — he  said  very  solemnly :  "Who  knows  if  St.  Paul 
himself  was  not  married  when  he  came  to  these  shores? 

Who  knows?" 


124  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Just  then  Sir  William  and  Lady  Priestly — old  friends 
from  London — came  in  to  greet  us,  offering  felicitations 
for  the  great  event  of  the  day:  "Catholic  Reform,  which 
not  only  walks  openly  in  the  streets  of  the  most  Roman 
city  of  the  seas,  but  is  received  with  sympathy  in  its 
church!"  etc.,  etc.,  thus  putting  a  stop  to  this  Biblical 
exegesis  of  our  head-waiter. 

We  attended  the  English  church.  The  services  and  the 
sermon  were  good.  The  Rector  paid  us  a  visit  and  told  us 
much  of  the  priest-ridden  people.  To  judge  from  the 
flocks  of  priests,  we  should  say  they  numbered  half  the 
population.  Commercial  pursuits  were  limited,  and  there 
was  little  or  no  manufacture,  so  but  one  choice  was  offered 
to  young  men  between  the  priesthood  and  coal-heaving: 
supplying  the  fleets  which  put  in  here  for  fuel.  As  fathers 
and  mothers  are  anxious  (all  the  world  over)  for  the  "ad- 
vancement" of  their  sons,  the  Church  here  is  always  over- 
stocked by  native  priests,  while  most  of  the  coal-heaving 
is  done  by  foreigners!  which  leaves  a  residue  of  not  the 
most  desirable  residents. 

We  drove  about  the  island  rather  more  than  we  cared 
for,  to  pass  the  long  three  days  which  kept  us  from  sailing 
farther  eastward.  One  afternoon  we  held  a  memorable 
conversation  with  an  English  clergyman  who  told  us  he 
was  "dying  to  get  away  from  the  place."  From  his  sickly 
appearance  and  from  what  he  told  us  in  the  following  con- 
versation, we  felt  conscience-clear  in  advising  him  to  leave 
as  soon  as  possible. 

"How  long  have  you  been  here?"  we  asked. 

"Nearly  twenty  years,  and  it's  quite  enough,"  was 
the  reply,  "I  am  determined  to  return  to  England !" 

"But  you  have  had  a  fine  opportunity,"  we  ventured 
to  say,  "among  these  poor,  ignorant  people." 

"Oh,"  he  replied  sharply,  "I  have  nothing  to  do  with 


MALTA.  125 

these  people  here — nothing  whatever,  and  not  much  can 
be  done  with  the  English  soldiers." 

"But  you  must  have  made  friends,  especially  among 
the  native  clergy." 

"Not  a  single  friend!  As  to  the  priests,  I  never  tried 
to  make  their  acquaintance!" 

"But  why  not?"  we  asked  somewhat  in  surprise. 

"The're  too  dirty!"  he  answered  sharply. 

We  were  too  stunned  to  reply  for  a  moment,  but  only 
gazed  into  the  face  of  this  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  it 
was  a  fine  one.  He  was,  also,  scrupulously  dressed,  and 
wore  an  irreproachable  round  white  linen  collar ....  evi- 
dently a  good  "Churchman." 

After  a  somewhat  embarrassing  silence,  I  could  not 
refrain  from  saying,  and,  I  think  with  some  emphasis: 
"But  this  is  just  what  Christ  came  for!  to  cleanse  dirty 
people!  that's  just  what  Christian  baptism  means!  you 
might  at  least  have  taught  them  the  use  of  an  English 
"tub" — as  you  have  much  water  here,  and  then  you  have 
ample  opportunities  for  the  gentlemanly  sport  of  swim- 
ming." 

The  minister  of  the  Gospel  looked  over  and  beyond  me, 
a  good  way  out;  as  if  he  wanted  to  sight  a  sail  at  sea; 
and  there  was  a  problem  unsolved  in  his  eye — something 
of  stoicism  and  despair,  and  he  waited  for  us  to  say  good- 
bye. But  he  did  not  wait  long.  And  I  was  very  sorry  for 
him:  almost  more  sorry  for  him  than  for  those  poor,  ig- 
norant, but  well-meaning  victims  whom  he  despised. 

Reflection:  The  Christian  rum  and  whiskey-sellers  of 
Malta,  and  other  places  we  have  visited  in  benighted  coun- 
tries, do  a  heavy  missionary  work,  and  O  so  many  converts 

and  proselytes !    They  are  not  afraid  of  dirty  people ! 

*         *         * 

On  the  third  day,  as  we  sailed  out  of  this  stupendous 
fort  with  an  odor  of  gunpowder  in  the  peaceful  air — and 


126  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

swarming  black-robed  priests  everywhere — an  ejaculation 
like  this  went  up  from  my  sick  heart:  "O,  Spirit  of  St. 
Paul!  if  thou  art  indeed  a  messenger  of  the  Saviour  of 
men,  pass  again  by  this  island — in  going  to — or  from — 
Rome!" 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM  MALTA  TO  ALEXANDRIA  IN  A  HURRICANE. 

HHHEN  we  took  ship  from  Malta  to  Alexandria.  And 
JL  we  were  so  eager  to  get  eastward  that  we  did  not 
hesitate  to  take  the  first  passable  vessel  that  left  the  port, 
the  "Agia  Sofia"  (St.  Sophia).  She  had  a  good  Scotch 
captain,  and  as  there  was  more  merchandise  than  man- 
kind aboard,  we  had  the  choice  of  cabins,  being  the  only 
first  class  passengers. 

We  were  content  until  well  out  at  sea,  when  a  hurri- 
cane swept  down  from  the  Adriatic  and  took  us  a-broad- 
side.  Then  we  were  miserable;  in  French — which  is  the 
vernacular  of  the  party — it  was  I'enfer.  . .  .  (and  enfer 
means  "hell").  ,  Oh!  how  we  longed  to  be  third  class,  or 
steerage — anybody  or  anything  amidships,  for  (as  often 
happens  in  life)  first  in  class,  we  were  last  in  comforts — 
being  in  the  stern  of  the  ship! 

I  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  many  times,  sailed  oft  in 
the  Mediterranean,  and  have  been  on  the  rocks  of  New- 
foundland, beating  for  life  in  the  surf — but  never  expe- 
rienced such  rolling,  and  tossing,  and  pitching  as  this! 
Indeed  there  was  no  method  in  it  whatever !  The  "Great 
Eastern/'  in  which  I  once  sailed,  took  the  palm  for  roll- 
ing, for  she  was  so  methodic  and  sure,  that  when  she  did 
roll — and  she  did  whenever  she  got  into  the  trough  of  the 
sea — you  had  time  to  steady  yourself  and  even  to  collect 
your  near-at-hand  belongings — besides  .composing  your 


128  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

mind,  feeling  quite  sure  that  though  she  went  clean  over, 
she  would  come  up  sure,  steadily,  and  on  time,  on  the 
other  side — keeping  her  record  conscientiously.  But  for 
celerity  of  action  and  prompt  results,  she  would  be  left 
in  the  lurch  of  the  other  hemispere  by  our  little  ship 
weathering  a  hurricane  in  the  confluence  of  the  Adriatic 
and  the  Mediterranean ! 

My  husband  suffered  more  than  I — and  during  the 
fiercest  of  the  tempest  required  several  stout  stewards  to 
keep  him  within  the  limits  of  his  berth — refusing  to  be 
bound,  as  was  suggested  by  the  captain.  "No,"  he  cried 
seriously,  "I  will  not  be  bound!  If  I  die,  I  will  die  free!" 
And  the  kind  captain,  who  managed  to  leave  the  helm  to 
look  down  into  our  enfer  for  a  moment,  once  in  the  day 
and  twice  in  the  night,  begged  us  in  loud  hoarse  accents 
to  "hold  on  firm !"  saying  in  a  comforting  way,  "We've  no 
surgeon  aboard,  and  I  wouldn't  like  to  land  you  with  all 
your  bones  in  your  body  broke!"  The  Pere,  being  a 
Frenchman  and,  therefore,  always  polite,  answered  back 
in  quick,  stentorian  tones,  "Merci!"  while  I,  from  my  cabin 
just  opposite,  faintly  echoed,  "Mercy!" 

So  'worn  and  exhausted  was  I  after  four,  long,  dread- 
ful days  and  still  more  dreadful  nights  of  knocking  about 
from  bunk  to  berth,  seasickness,  and  danger,  with  every 
imaginable  discomfort,  that  when,  at  last,  Alexandria  was 
sighted  away  down  the  horizon,  my  enthusiasm  for  travel 
— even  for  the  Orient — was  far  below  its  normal  point. 
Indeed  it  was  decided  between  us  before  we  left  the  ship, 
that  we  would  go  home  by  land — on  foot  even — taking 
ten  years  to  do  it,  if  necessary;  so  demoralising  is  sea- 
sickness, with  a  hurricane  added  !* 

*  Jan.  1903.    We  see  by  the  newspapers — and  therefore  it  must  be  true- 
that  a  distinguished  diplomat,  who  often  carries  the  trick  of  nations  ovef 
wide  tumultuous  seas,  and  who  always   suffered  greatly  from   seasickness, 
has  discovered  a  sure  remedy :  In  a  recent  voyage,  when  in  despair,  and,  as 
he  thought,  perhaps,  near  death — he  determined  to  take  a  last  look  of  him 
self  in  a  mirror.     The  cure  was  instantaneous,  and  he  strongly  recommend 
it. ..  .This  is  true  and  has  a  scientific  reason  in  the  brain. 


FROM  MALTA  TO  ALEXANDRIA. 

Slowly  we  beat  into  port,  and  were  at  last  behind  the 
immense  break-water.  I  was  dragged  on  deck,  and  as 
I  tried  to  walk  I  found  my  feet  unresponsive  to  my  will, 
and  I  asked  with  dismay  if  all  my  hard-gained  strength 
had  indeed  failed  me.  I  only  longed  to  leave  the  ship  and 
sea  forever. 

ALEXANDRIA  ! 

But  where  was  the  magnificent  city  which  once  ruled 
the  world  with  her  commerce,  her  warfare,  and  her  learn- 
ing? There  was  nothing  before  us  but  a  low  shore-line, 
scarcely  distinguishable  in  the  dull  grey  t\vilight.  Sic 
transit  gloria  nmndi. 

Two  willing  sailors  carried  me  to  the  bow  of  the  ship 
where  I  wished  to  be  left  alone,  and  then,  as  we  do  when 
earth  has  fallen  away  from  our  footing,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing else  to  do  but  to  cry  for  help  from  Above — from  whence 
alone  comes  succor — I  lifted  up  my  heart  and  stretched  out 
my  arms  in  the  dark  toward  where  I  knew  it  lay,  that  mys- 
terious land  of  Egypt ! — toward  that  city  where,  in  the  dim 
centuries,  had  dwelt  my  great  patronue — St.  Catherine, 
who  had  her  bones  broken  on  the  wheel  that  I  might  have 
strength  to  have  mine  broken  in  a  ship,  and  my  heart  also, 
if  need  be,  for  the  faith  for  which  she  died : — that  magnifi- 
cent city,  where,  still  further  back  in  the  centuries,  dwelt 
that  other  woman,  otherwise  great,  Cleopatra ; — where  she 
wiled  her  Roman  invaders,  Pompey  and  Antony,  to  their 
destruction ! 

Alexandria!  City  of  the  great  conqueror!  who  has  left 
his  name  forever  here — where  meet  the  sea,  the  desert,  and 
the  Nile!  And  still  back  in  the  undiscovered  centuries, 
there,  in  that  low  dark  line  of  land,  borne  down  by  the 
heavy  lowering  sky  into  the  tormented  sea — -there  is  the 
classic  land  of  the  Sphinx — the  Eternal  Enigma  of  Life 
or  Death!  There  is  the  arch-holy  country  where  Divine 
Unitv  was  first  revealed  to  man,  and  where  ruled  the 


I3O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

greatest  dynasty  of  kings  the  earth  has  ever  known ;  where 
dwelt  a  strange  people  which  has,  in  the  midst  of  such 
magnificence  as  the  world  has  nowhere  else  produced,  re- 
vealed the  first  unmistakable  groping  after  the  Mono- 
theistic Idea,  which  Moses,  long  centuries  after,  pro- 
claimed from  Sinai:  the  True  and  Only  God!  There  it 
lay,  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs !  EGYPT  !  The  sojourning 
place  of  Israel,  the  birth-place  of  the  great  Expounder  of 
Divine  Law — and  finally,  the  land  of  retreat  and  safety 
of  the  Little  Child  who  was  the  Saviour  of  the  World ! 

O  Egypt !  land  of  the  lost ! — land  of  darkness ! — land  of 
death !  I  love  thee !  for  thou  hast  held  hidden  in  thy  bosom 
the  Supreme  Revelation  and  the  Hope  of  the  World! 

As  I  still  stood  looking  out  over  the  turbid  waves  into 
the  sombre  present  and  the  ominous  future,  I  became 
aware  of  the  yielding  of  the  darkness  in  the  eastern  sky, 
and  soon  the  broad  disk  of  a  deep  yellow,  Oriental  moon 
apeared,  rising  rapidly  and  fuller,  and  then  leaping  into 
the  dark  Egyptian  blue-black  night!  An  ineffable  thrill 
transpierced  my  whole  being,  and  a  new  life  leapt  into 
my  heart!  Such  was  the  infinite  skill  of  the  Good  Physi- 
cian who  attends  me  through  all  my  journeys  and  through 
all  my  life,  that  even  before  my  feet  touched  the  earth, 
all  discomfort,  sickness  and  danger  were  forgotten,  and 
we  were  infinitely  happy! 

Now,  in  the  distance  a  serpent  of  electric  light  leaped 
along  the  shore,  showing  that  modern  science  was  work- 
ing here ;  and  then,  through  its  mingled  flashes  with  moon 
and  waning  day,  we  descried  the  only  landmark  of  the 
past — Pompey's  Pillar.  And  when  at  last,  in  the  super- 
natural twilight,  we  reached  our  mooring,  and  beheld  the 
group  of  strange  men  awaiting  us ;  and  when  colors  began 
to  appear,  and  we  discerned  the  Egyptian  fellahs,  clothed 
in  long  white  tunics,  and  then  the  well-known  red- jackets, 
across  whose  breast  we  read  "Cook  &  Sons,"  we  were  in 


POMPEV'S    PILLAR   AND    MOSLEM    CEMETERY,,    ALEXANDRIA. 


FROM  MALTA  TO  ALEXANDRIA. 

the  nineteenth  century  again!  And  we  were  soon  relieved 
of  all  worldly  possessions  and  all  earthly  cares.  We  de- 
scended that  plank  with  wings  to  our  feet,  and  while  it 
was  yet  evening  we  were  settled  in  the  comfortable  Hotel 
Abbat,  kept  by  a  courteous  Frenchman — giving  thanks 
for  the  delicious  French  dinner  before  us,  and  for  every- 
thing else ! 

Months  afterwards,  on  the  Bosphorus,  we  met  the 
good  captain  of  the  ship  which  had  brought  us  safely  to 
port  in  Alexandria.  He  seemed  like  a  life-long  friend, 
and  assured  us  that  in  all  his  sailing  that  was  the  most 
terrible  storm  he  had  ever  encountered.  And  as  we  sailed 
past  the  spent-looking  "Agia  Sofia,"  which  lay  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Golden  Horn,  we  saluted  her  with  respect, 
though  she  did  not  deserve  it  altogether. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FROM  ALEXANDRIA  TO  CAIRO. 

BEING  anxious  to  get  away  from  the  sea  air, — which 
is  usually  deleterious  for  the  victim  of  neurasthenia, 
— we  took  the  train  the  next  afternoon  for  Cairo,  leaving 
Alexandria,  the  ancient  city  and  the  modern  people,  for 
our  return. 

I  am  fond  of  railway  travelling,  and  am  always  better 
pleased  to  start  than  to  stop ;  but  I  think  I  was  never  more 
pleased  to  get  into  a  train  than  into  that  one.  The  point 
de  depart  and  the  point  d'arrivee  wrere  equally  agreeable. 
If  on  sea  we  take  first  class,  hoping  to  get  the  best  of  it- 
em the  railway  we  often  take  the  second,  (except  in  Amer- 
ica, where  nothing  is  second  class.  . .  .)  which  offers,  be- 
side economy,  the  great  advantage  of  seeing  the  people 
of  the  country.  And  what  admirable  company  we  had 
from  Alexandria  —  mostly  Mohammedans  and  a  lovely 
family  of  Jewesses.  These  latter  spoke  French,  English, 
and  Italian,  and  were  most  polite  and  kind — adjusting 
our  bundles  and  daintily  peeling  oranges  for  us,  while  the 
Arabs  offered  us  water — the  delicious  water  of  the  Xile 
which  is  sold  at  every  station  for  a  son,  (a  cent  or  ha'- 
penny,) bottle  and  all.  And  we  all  drank  out  of  the  same 
bottle, — which  gave  me  infinite  delight — because  of  the 
fraternity.  .  .  .Then  the  Moslems  are  clean.  They  drink 
no  wine  or  offensive  liquors,  they  rarely  eat  meat;  their 
teeth  are  good,  their  breath  untainted,  and  their  lives  are 


FROM  ALEXANDRIA  TO  CAIRO.  133 

regular  and  sober.  They  are,  therefore,  pure-blooded,  and 
several  times  a  day,  before  prayers,  it  is  a  scrupulous  and 
religious  duty  to  wash  their  mouths  thoroughly.  The  "cup 
of  cold  water"  was  offered  to  us  with  scriptural  tradition 
as  well  as  their  instinctive  spirit  of  hospitality, — for  we 
were  strangers  in  their  strange  land.  But  alas!  we  could 
not  converse  with  them,  as  they  spoke  only  Arabic— iwhich 
we  did  not  speak.  However,  with  mysterious  telegraphy, 
our  necessity  became  known  in  the  adjoining  compartment, 
and  soon  a  young  Egyptian  came  in  and  very  courteously 
offered,  in  good  English,  to  translate  for  us.  We  gladly 
accepted  the  offer,  for  better  than  guide-books  or  histor- 
ical works  are  the  natives,  who  alone  can  give  facts  and 
information  concerning  all  that  pertains  to  their  country, 
and  to  their  life.  We  learned  much  from  our  fellow-trav- 
ellers, concerning  Egypt,  past  and  present,  in  those  few 
hours  between  Alexandria  and  Cairo.  The  subject  of 
religion  claimed  a  large  portion  of  our  inquiries, — and  it 
was  remarkable  how  all  the  Moslems  listened  and  begged 
to  be  made  acquainted  with  what  we  said.  Our  conversa- 
tion soon  assured  them  of  our  sympathy,  which  certainly 
astonished  them,  as  sympathetic  strangers  visit  them  but 
rarely,  and  they  expressed  themselves  very  appreciatingly. 
We  were  informed  that  a  certain  French  preacher  was 
soon  expected  in  Egypt,  coming  from  Algiers  and  Tunis, 
who  had  spoken  and  written  of  the  necessity  of  Christians 
and  Moslems  having  a  better  understanding,  etc.  They 
asked  if  we  had  heard  of  him,  and  could  give  them  any 
news  of  his  coming? 

We  were  hesitating,  being  somewhat  embarrassed  in 
our  reply,  when  our  interpreter  sprang  to  his  feet  before 
Pere  Hyacinthe,  and  with  a  low  salaam,  carrying  his  right 
hand  to  his  brow  and  then  to  his  heart,  exclaimed,  "It  is 
you ! — I  feel  it  is  you !" 

Then  there  followed  many  other  salaams,  and  much 


134  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

gracious  speech  on  the  part  of  a  compact  company,  and  of 
'those  who  came  flocking  in  from  the  adjoining-  compart- 
ments. Thus  unexpectedly  we  were  travelling  in  the 
Heart  of  Islam! 

At  every  station  we  were  handed  fresh  water  and  or- 
anges, to  refresh  us  on  our  way.  Cigarettes,  too,  were 
offered  us — and  declined — while  I,  as  usual,  not  only  gave 
the  reason  that  the  fumes  and  odor  of  tobacco  were  un- 
pleasant to  me,  but  that  nicotine  was  harmful  for  the  body 
as  well  as  for  the  soul.  Then  there  was  some  quick,  quiet 
communication  among  them,  and  rapidly,  one  after  an- 
other, for  all  were  smoking  (happily  in  the  soft,  warm 
climate  all  the  windows  were  open),  the  smoking  ceased. 
—Our  railway  compartment  became  a  Monotheistic  and 
Ecumenical  Council — for  the  whole  world's  true  faith  was 
represented  there:  by  Jews,  Christians,  and  Moslems.  If 
larger  councils  could  be  called  together  in  the  same  spirit, 
these  dreadful  wars  and  massacres  would  soon  cease! 

The  question  of  religion  interested  them  most  of  all. 
The  Mussulmans  put  their  inquiries  with  a  simplicity, 
directness,  and  distinctness  which  would  have  dispelled 
any  reticence  and  reserve,  had  we  had  any.  The  interest 
was  so  great,  among  the  calm-natured  Moslems,  that  long 
before  wre  reached  Cairo,  our  interpreter,  filled  with  re- 
ligious enthusiasm,  declared  he  was  ready  to  follow  and 
help  us  in  our  mission,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  to  the 
end  of  life, — without  money  and  without  price, — leaving 
father  and  mother,  and  home  and  country,  in  the  service 
of  "Allah"  for  the  reconciliation  of  believers!  It  was  not 
without  pain  that  we  declined  his  sincere  and  reiterated 
offer. 

"You  talk  like  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,"  I  said  to  him — to 
which  he  replied,  "We  do  follow  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  for  He 
and  Mohammed  are  not  enemies  but  friends,  and  both  were 
sent  of  God  to  do  His  work.  I  read  the  Gospel  as  well  as 


FROM   CAIRO  TO  ALEXANDRIA.  135 

the  Koran — for  they  are  sister-books — having  the  same 
moral  and  principles  of  God  and  Judgment."  This  young 
Mussulman  was  a  workman  in  a  factory  and  but  twenty 
years  old. 

[Query :  Do  we  find  among  us  many  such  religious  phi- 
losophers at  that  age,  of  any  calling,  who  read  the  Bible 
and  the  Koran,  and  are  willing  at  a  moment's  notice  to 
leave  all  for  God's  service?] 

But  we  must  not  forget  Egypt  for  her  people, — so  with 
all  our  conversation  we  kept  our  eyes  a  great  deal  out  of 
the  window. 

The  low  region  of  the  Delta  began  to  assume  that 
charm  of  which  we  had  heard  so  much,  as  the  sun  declines ; 
and  we  perceived  at  the  outset  that  the  charm  is  not  so 
much  in  the  melancholy  monotony  of -its  landscape,  as  in 
its  marvelous  atmosphere  and  rare  coloring,  which  simply 
intoxicate  the  senses,  and  through  them  awaken  the  spirit- 
ual sentiments. 

That  mellow,  orange  glow  of  twilight  was  growing 
deeper  arid  merging  into  purple  and  rich  bronze;  when  on 
the  high,  opposite  bank  of  a  long  canal,  whose  sky-reflected 
surface  seemed  to  separate  us  from  the  world  beyond,— 
there  appeared,  clear-cut  and  shadowless,  against  the  sky 
a  marriage  cortege  of  tall,  slow-moving  camels, — the  first 
bearing  an  immense  baldachin  in  which  was  hidden  the 
bride,  the  others  carrying  her  attendants,  while  the  men 
surrounded  them  on  foot.  All  was  in  high  silhouette 
against  the  opaline  firmament. 

Very  beautiful  and  happy  was  our  first  twilight  in  the 
land  of  Egypt!  Human  voices  and  words  were  out  of 
place.  We  were  under  the  mystic  charm! — World! — be 
still! 

Softer  and  softer  fell  the  shadows, — deeper  and  deeper 
fell  the  silence  as  all  eyes  were  turned  outward  towards 
the  sky.  I  think  the  Moslems  were  praying — looking  be- 


136  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

yond  the  low  Delta — beyond  the  desert — over  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  wilderness  of  Arabia,  to  their  Holy  City.  Our 
prayers  were  joined  to  theirs,  and  went  out  towards  our 
Mecca — just  a  little  higher  on  the  terrestrial  plain  than 
theirs — whither  we  were  bound — O,  Jerusalem! 

This  silence  was  broken  but  once,  as  we  neared  our 
destination,  when  a  white-turbaned  head  turned  toward 
us  and  a  long  dark,  bare  arm  from  beneath  the  snowy 
bournous  was  stretched  out  through  the  open  window  with 
a  wave  which  signified  distance,  and  we  heard  in  an  im- 
pressive undertone  all  through  our  company  the  magic 
word,  "Pyramids."  Then  the  silence  became  deeper,  and 
the  reverie  more  profound. 

The  twilight  had  faded  into  the  night — and  the  night 
had  burst  into  Glory! 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PYRAMIDS. 

A  FULL  night's  sleep  in  our  comfortable  Hotel  d'An- 
gleterre,  brought  us  a  sweet  waking; — and  when 
we  perceived  the  first  filtering  of  dawn  through  the  closed 
window,  we  opened  wide  the  shutters, — and  there  they 
stood ! 

Over  the  great  plain  of  the  city — over  the  forest  of 
minarets — five  miles  away — beyond  the  long  line  of  palm 
trees,  where  sweeps  the  Nile, — in  the  saffron-rose  dawn- 
awaiting  the   sun, — awaiting  us, — awaiting  the  coming 
ages, — awaiting  Eternity: — the  Pyramids! 

Quietly  I  stole  to  the  house-top — and  was  alone  with 
the  morning.  .  .  . 

There  are  times  when  gratitude  merges  into  worship, 
enveloping  our  whole  being ;  when  the  soul  is  for  a  time— 
for  an  instant — poised  in  the  intermediate  realm  between 
the  human  and  the  divine ; — and  when,  with  spiritual  per- 
ception, is  revealed  an  intimation  of  the  celestial  life  with 
such  exquisite  pression,  that  the  joy  is  unbearable; — and 
we  are  almost  entered  into  the  unutterable  felicity  of  glo- 
rious death!  Were  this  beatific  state  prolonged,  but  one 
instant  more,  we  should  cease  to  live!  The  finite  heart 
is  overwhelmed  by  the  infinite! 

Ever  after  thus  being  permitted  such  a  tangible, 
though  transitory  experience  of  the  supreme  rest  and  the 
ultimate  joy  of  the  beatific  state, — the  plane  of  human  life 


138  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

is  lifted  higher,  its  asperities  are  toned  down,  its  difficulties 
are  lessened, — its  physical  ailments  and  atmospheric  im- 
pressions, modified, — the  material  body  becomes  diaphanic 
by  the  rarified  spiritual  air  we  breathe; — and  we  walk 
thereafter  stronger — and  perhaps,  healed; — for  that  was 
the  sign  which  the  Great  Physician  left  us.  And  though 
our  spiritual  wings  may  sometimes  fail  in  the  thick,  heavy 
air  of  earth, — and  our  feet  flag  in  the  long  march, — they 
will  thenceforward  never  flag  and  fail  as  they  did  before 
— and  wre  can  never  suffer  as  we  have  suffered.  .  .  . 

From  metaphysics  and  psychological  perceptions  we 
must  come  down  to  solid  earth.  When  the  thoughtful 
director  of  the  hotel  sent  to  ask  what  we  would  like 
for  our  breakfast,  the  soft-stepping,  white  -  robed  Arab 
valet  -  de  -  chambre  who  brought  the  message,  seemed 
like  an  angel; — and  the  full  long,  delicious  day  of  rest 
and  perfect  contentment  of  existence  was  that  of  Paradise. 
Fatigue,  discomfort,  care,  anxiety,  and  illness  were  all 
forgotten.  Our  gratitude  was  their  only  souvenir. 

We  went  to  the  Pyramids  the  next  day.  The  crossing 
of  the  Nile — the  flying  through  that  long  avenue  of  trees, 
with  those  wing-footed  Arab  horses — the  soft  yet  invig- 
orating air — everything — everything  prepared  us  for  the 
glorious  day  before  us. 

Now  we  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  greatest  work  which 
the  hand  of  man  has  produced  on  the  earth.  • 

After  a  kindly  salutation,  we  made  the  scores  of  Arab 
guides  who  surrounded  us  understand  that  we  wanted  to 
be  alone.  I  needed  the  great  silence  of  the  desert  for  this 
sublime  cult,  and  I  withdrew  to  that  side  of  the  great 
Pyramid  which  looks  to  the  sun.  With  my  knees  in  the 
sand  and  my  head  upon  this  cyclopean  altar,  which  now, 
in  the  high  light  of  the  noon-day,  had  become  gigantic 
blocks  of  unpolished  gold,  and  was  lifted  up  like  a  moun- 
tain into  the  sky, — with  expanded  soul,  I  gave  thanks  to 


THE   PYRAMIDS.  139 

Him  who  was  doubtless  to  the  mass  of  its  builders,  the 
"UNKNOWN  GOD/' 

One  life-long,  haunting  desire  was  satisfied.  Yet,  with 
it  all,  there  still  remained  the  other,  the  greater  longing. 
But  I  was  now  so  near,  that  haste  \vas  no  more  necessary. 
I  could  afford  to  wait.  And  as  I  prayed  here,  a  great  love 
for  the  people  of  Egypt  entered  into  my  heart,  and  a 
broader  and  deeper  love  for  humanity — in  the  past,  in  the 
present,  and  in  the  future.  Then  I  kissed  the  rough  stones, 
disintegrated  by  the  ages,  and  went  and  stood  afar  off  to 
better  see  and  appreciate  the  colossal  wonder. 

Of  all  the  wrorks  of  man  on  the  earth,  this  is  the  fittest 
emblem  of  eternity.  St.  Sophia  in  the  East,  St.  Paul's 
and  St.  Peter's  in  the  West,  will  crumble  into  dust  and  be 
washed  down  into  the  sea ;  yet  this  High  Altar  will  stand ! 
And,  mayhap,  some  day  a  mighty  Cross  will  be  planted 
on  its  summit — and  bear  in  its  arms  the  Crescent  and  the 
Star: — three  fitting  emblems  of  the  One  True  Religion — 
uniting  earth  to  Heaven  and  man  to  God. 

The  long,  worshipful  day  was  ended,  and  as  we  stood 
in  contemplation  within  the  great  shadow,  which  now  be- 
gan to  lengthen  over  the  landscape,  we  seemed  to  hear 
from  the  far-stretching  plain — there  to  the  North  where 
La  Grande  Armcc  was  encamped — the  roar  of  Bonaparte's 
cannon — awaking  with  the  same  blast,  ancient  Egypt  to 
Science,  and  modern  Egypt  to  Progress.  Alas,  that  mighty 
genius  did  not  understand  his  great  opportunity — nor  him- 
self, nor  comprehend  his  task.  Hs  advanced  nothing  for 
his  dynasty,  nor  for  France;  but  he  shook  Europe,  and 
aroused  the  world !  Very  certain  it  is  that  the  awakening 
of  modern  Islam  is  due  to  Napoleon,  and  all  Moslems  ren- 
der him  homage. 

This  grand  day  was  closing.  And  these  gigantic  mys- 
teries of  Love,  and  Pyramids  and  Sphinx  only  deepened 
my  longing  for  the  further  Eastward;  and  as  we  went 


I4O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

down  into  the  shadow  which  enveloped  the  earth  I  sang 
again  the  sublime  anthem: — Jerusalem! 

Now  there  still  remains  the  human  side  of  earthly 
things  and  sublunary  circumstances.  And  there  is  no 
process  of  human  events  which  so  reduces  the  self-com- 
placency and  pride  of  our  century,  as  a  visit  to  the  Pyra- 
mids, Temples,  and  Tombs  of  Egypt.  And  as  we  wended 
our  way  back  to  Cairo  in  the  mellow  air  of  the  closing 
day,  through  that  long  avenue  of  whispering  trees,  we 
felt  in  our  humiliation — I  had  almost  said  humility — a 
kinship  with  the  meek  animal  which  bore  us,  rather  than 
those  giants  who  had  builded  these  everlasting  wonders! 

A-propos  of  donkeys,  I  must  tell  you  that  in  the  Orient, 
and  particularly  in  Egypt  and  in  Palestine,  they  are  treated 
not  only  with  kindness  and  tenderness,  but  are  regarded 
as  almost  sacred.  They  are  members  of  the  family,  sharing 
the  same  food  and  drink,  as  if  the  people  remembered  that 
it  was  this  humble  creature  which  bore  hither  from  the 
cruel  massacre  of  Herod  the  little  Child-Saviour.  And  with 
W7hat  pride  they  decorate  these  little  animals;  hanging 
necklaces  and  embroideries  about  their  necks,  and  clipping 
them  in  lace-work  designs.  And  how  strange  is  the  well- 
defined  natural  cross  they  bear  upon  their  shoulders!  Is 
it  not  a  phenomenal  symbol  of  divine  love,  linking  to- 
gether man  and  his  inferior  brethren — all  God's  creatures 
—in  mutual  help,  labor,  and  sympathy? 

Thus  we  meditated  on  the  upper  and  nether  spheres, 
with  their  overlapping  circumstances  and  interwoven 
events,  as  we  returned  to  the  great  city  already  enveloped 
in  her  purple-gold  mantle  of  the  night; — through  the  rich 
gloaming  of  the  solemn  Egyptian  twilight,  along  the  shore 
of  the  Nile,  which  glinted  between  the  soft  feathery  palm 
trees, — just  there  where  the  other  sacred  babe  was  hidden 
away  from  those  who  sought  to  kill  him : —  One,  the  great 
Law-giving  Child — the  other  the  sweet  Life-giving  Babe 


THE  PYRAMIDS.  14! 

....  There  bend  the  same  bulrushes  on  the  edge  of  the 
river — and  see! — there  comes  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh! 
How  clean  cut  her  silhouette  against  the  dark,  glistening 
river, — and  how  graceful,  as  she  bends  down  among  the 
rushes: — this  daughter  of  the  Egyptian  of  to-day — and 
of  4000  years  ago ! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CAIRO. 

A  CORDIAL  welcome  awaited  us  in  Cairo,  from  Chris- 
JL\.  tians  and  Moslems.  For  a  fortnight  we  were  the 
guests  of  Chefik  Bey,  Secretary  of  the  Khedive,  and  were 
the  recipients  of  a  most  charming  hospitality.  His  resi- 
dence is  palatial,  with  all  the  comforts  and  conveniences 
of  European  life,  yet  is  under  the  Moslem  regime. 

A  suite  of  rooms  were  at  our  disposal,  with  French- 
speaking  Arab  servants.  Our  Egyptian  host  is  a  refined 
and  educated  gentleman,  having  studied  in  Paris  and  trav- 
elled extensively.  He  usually  accompanied  the  Khedive 
on  his  European  excursions.  He  is  married  to  a  beautiful 
and  educated  Turkish  wife,  and  has  a  fine  little  son.  To 
say  more  than  this  would  be  indiscreet,  save  that  the 
harem,  or  wife's  apartments,  are  luxurious,  with  heavy 
carved  furniture  in  gilt,  hangings  of  delicate  pink  and 
blue  satin,  and  lace.  The  windows  and  galleries  belonging 
to  the  harem  are  all  closely  latticed,  as  in  all  Moslem 
houses.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  seclusion  of 
Mohammedan  ladies  is  not  imposed  by  their  religion,  or 
by  their  husbands,  but  by  ancient  custom;  and  they  de- 
mand what  to  them  is  a  sacred  privilege — of  living,  and 
taking  the  air  on  their  terraces  or  verandas,  without  the 
annoyance  of  being  gazed  at  by  curious  neighbors  or 
passing  strangers; — and  also,  of  walking  or  riding  with 
their  faces  covered,  without  being  obliged  to  suffer  the 
vulgar  stare  or  prying  curiosity  of  the  public.  Their 


CAIRO.  143 

pride  is  in  privacy  and  seclusion — the  vanity  of  our 
women  demands  show  and  publicity.  As  to  liberty,  the 
Moslem  wife  in  superior  families,  is  not  only  free  in  her 
own  domain,  but  she  is  a  reigning  queen,  and  by  no  means 
the  abject  slave  we  have  been  led  to  think.  The  husband 
religiously  respects  her  privacy — and  when  lady  visitors 
are  announced  he  always  withdraws,  never  presuming 
to  intrude  upon  their  presence,  nor  upon  his  wife's  prerog- 
ative of  receiving  what  ladies  she  likes. 

We  enjoyed  every  possible  attention  in  this  intelligent 
and  cultured  Moslem  family — receiving  many  visits,  both 
Moslem  and  Christian.  Every  day  His  Excellency  re- 
ceived, at  his  table,  men  of  learning,  distinction,  and  piety : 
Arabs,  Turks,  and  Europeans, — which  afforded  us  the 
rare  opportunity  of  studying  Mussulmans  in  their  own 
milieu.  I  was,  unfortunately,  the  only  lady  present. 

Here  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Sheik  Ali-Yous- 
sef,  the  distinguished  editor  of  the  leading  Arabic  news- 
paper in  Egypt,  El-Moayad,  one  of  the  most  notable  lead- 
ers of  the  National  party,  a  progressive  mind,  and  pro- 
motor  of  all  salutary  reforms. 

We  had  expected  much  from  Cairo,  but  the  first  view 
and  impression  of  this  strange  and  unique  city  were  over- 
powering. It  was  permanent  phantasmagoria; — very  hu- 
man but  withal  something  super-human.  The  mind  could 
not  seize  or  comprehend  it;  and  it  was  only  when  we 
mounted  the  citadel,  and  rose  high  above  its  mixed  and 
mottled  humanity,  and  looked  out  over  the  marvelous  me- 
tropois,  a  forest  of  minarets  and  domes, — over  the  majestic 
Nile, — beyond  the  deserted  city  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kha- 
lifs,  away  to  the  distant  Delta,  with  its  deep,  dark  verdure, 
—out  to  the  yellow  desert  belt — to  the  Arabian  hills  on  the 
east,  and  the  Lybian  mountains  on  the  west,  (which  bind 
within  this  narrow  strip  of  loam-land  the  richest  granary 
in  the  world,)  and  which  encompasses  the  Pyramids  and 


144  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

the  horizon,  —  that  we  began  to  comprehend  the  majestic 
past  and  the  marvelous  present  of  Egypt. 

Going  about  for  the  first  two  or  three  days  among  this 
heterogeneous  mass  of  men  —  the  mind  is  depressed  and 
sometimes  saddened.  So  many  fellahs,  barefooted  and  in 
tatters,  so  many  women,  all  clad  in  black  with  long  veils 
trailing  in  the  dust,  as  if  in  mourning,  —  and  they,  too, 
barefooted  ;  carrying  their  chidren  on  hip  or  shoulder,  and, 
besides,  often  carrying  a  great  jar  on  the  head,  and  with 
only  an  attempt  at  covering  their  faces  from  below  the 
eyes  with  a  shred  of  thick  black  veil,  fastened  with  a  gilt 
perpendicular  cylinder  on  the  forehead.  At  first  I  could 
bear  this  only  for  two  or  three  hours  at  a  time,  when  T 
was  obliged  to  seek  my  quiet  room  and  shut  my  eyes  and 
rest  my  brain,  while  meditating  on  this  mysterious  con- 
glomerate world.  But  as  the  days,  and  my  observation 
wore  on,  my  impressions  changed.  I  remarked  with  what 
alertness  all  these  eonle  m^ed  about.  There  was  evi- 


dently something  to  a^,  and  they  were  doing  it.  The 
Egyptians  were  never  a  cheerful  people,  and  how  could 
they  be  to-day  with  the  ponderous  past,  the  solemn  present, 
and  the  portentous  future  !  But  in  observing  more  closely, 
I  perceived,  especially  among  the  fellahs,  that  there  was 
a  placid  expression  upon  their  faces  which  showed,  if  not 
content,  something  better  :  —  faith.  As  I  went  deeper  into 
their  lives  I  found  among  them  a  relative  happiness,  cer- 
tainly greater  than  with  our  European  lower  classes. 

"Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise."  But 
these  unlettered  people  are  not  by  any  means  untaught, 
and  in  what  is  most  important  in  life  :  —  humility,  obedience 
to  God  and  their  rulers,  (even  if  they  do  not  like  them— 
and  therein  lies  a  great  virtue,)  resignation,  and  adora- 
tion.* Here  is  certainly  a  grand  basis  for  happiness.  Life 

*  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  to-day  the  Egyptians  have  three  earthly 
rulers:    English   military  Occupation,   His   Highness  the   Khedive  —  the   most 


CAIRO.  145 

with  them  is  certainly  reduced  to  its  preliminary  principles, 
moral,  social,  and  religious : — to  be  born,  to  breathe  warm, 
congenial  air  all  the  days  of  their  lives,  and  to  have  just 
enough  to  eat  to  sustain  them, — whether  herbs,  grain,  or 
fruit, — with  the  free  nutritious  water  of  the  Nile  to  drink 
and  wherein  to  bathe — and  above  all  perfect  liberty  to 
worship  God! — What  else  could  they  ask? 

[Grand  object-lesson  for  us  of  the  higher  civilization 
—eternally  discontented.] 

The  fellah  is  not  often  hungry,  though  he  is  often  in 
need  of  food;  but  when  he  feels  the  gnawing,  and  has 
nothing  to  eat,  he  goes  to  the  Nile  and  drinks ; — and  if  he 
is  very  hungry,  he  drinks  a  good  deal,  and  takes  a  bath! 
and  then  goes  on  with  his  work — refreshed,  sustained, 
content,  remembering  the  Arab  proverb:  "He  who  has 
tasted  a  crust  of  bread  has  tasted  all  the  stars  and  all  the 
heavens/' 

loved, — and  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  wii.~  K   anf,  is  supremest,  as  he  is 

the  Religious  Sovereign; — and  above  all  ALLAH. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

UP  THE   NILE KARNAK. 

NOT  even  Cairo  nor  the  Pyramids  could  satisfy  us, — 
for  our  goal  in  this  land  was  in  Upper  Egypt : — the 
tombs  of  the  great  kings  whose  gigantic  genius  and  super- 
human power  builded  these  stupendous  monuments.  So, 
after  a  month,  we  started  on  this  long,  longed-for  voyage 
"Up  the  Nile." 

And  how  comfortably  we  were  settled  in  our  two  nice 
little  cabins,  filled  with  the  morning  sun, — on  one  of  Cook's 
excellent  mail-steamers,  moored  just  below  Kasr-el-Nil, 
the  great  iron  draw-bridge  across  the  Nile. 

Thoroughly  as  we  dislike  the  sea,  we  enjoy  travel 
on  rivers,  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  sea-sickness, 
little  probability  of  shipwreck,  storm,  or  drowning;  and 
where  there  are  so  many  opportunities  of  going  ashore, 
and  every  moment  something  new  to  be  seen  and  enjoyed 
on  either  bank. 

During  the  first  day  of  our  voyage  all  were  occupied 
with  the  Pyramids  which  stand  along  the  western  shore 
of  the  Nile; — sublime  sentinels,  keeping  count  of  the  pass- 
ing generations,  dynasties,  and  centuries. 

On  our  second  day,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  in  this 
delectable  climate,  a  dark  cloud  of  rain,  sleet,  and  hail  fell 
upon  us  in  such  quantities  and  force  that  we  could  not 
remain  on  deck.  We  gathered  a  dozen  plates  full  of  large 
hail-stones,  to  the  surprise  of  the  natives — and  to  the  dis- 


UP  THE  NILE. KARNAK.  147 

gust  of  those  chilly  travellers  who  had  fled  three  or  four 
thousand  miles  to  escape  such  manifestations  of  nature. 
But  this  cold  wave  soon  passed  over,  and  Egypt  speedily 
regained  her  rainless  reputation,  and  we  were  henceforth 
in  unrelenting  sunshine,  drinking  in  elixir  of  health  and 
delight,  without  stint  or  variation. 

After  passing  the  Pyramids  and  numberless  sand-  and 
rock-hidden  tombs,  we  came  to  Memphis,  the  ancient  cap- 
ital of  Egypt,  built  over  4000  years  B.  C,  whose  splen- 
dor has  rarely  been  equaled — and  where  reigned  the  great 
Ptah.  Here  Joseph  lived  and  Moses  was  born.  It  was 
besieged  in  turn  by  the  Assyrians,  Ethiopians,  and  Per- 
sians— whose  great  invader  Cambyses  slew  her  priests 
and  smote  the  sacred  bull,  Apis,  unto  death.  And  here 
lies  the  colossal  statue  of  Rameses  II,  half  buried  in  the 
sand.  All  efforts  to  raise  or  transport  it  have  thus  far 
been  unsuccessful.  Here  travellers  visit  the  house  of  Ma- 
rietta Bey,  the  distinguished  French  explorer  who  un- 
earthed these  treasures,  and  the  tomb  of  the  sacred  bull; 
then  to  Ben-Hassan,  with  its  mummies  and  rock-tombs; 
and  Assiout,  with  its  tomb  of  the  sacred  wolf,  and  that  of  a 
great  king  of  the  thirteenth  dynasty.  Here  also  we  found 
a  most  prosperous  American  Protestant  mission  school.* 
From  these  points  are  uncovered  some  of  the  finest  views 
of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Then  to  Abydos,  with  its  beauti- 
ful ruins :  to  Dendereh  with  its  prodigious  temple  covered 
with  gigantic  figures  in  intaglio,  and  its  myriads  of  bees 
up  in  its  marvelous  frieze — which  fill  the  warm  air  with 
their  winged  music. 

*  An  interesting  and  amusing  incident  occurred  here :  As  the  plank  was 
thrown  out  the  first  person  who  pushed  aboard  was  a  petit  monsieur  of  ten 
years,  dressed  in  the  adult  -elegance  of  a  Parisian  tailor — who  addressed 
Pere  Hyacinthe  with  "Je  sttis  Frangais!"  The  little  man  had  however  some- 
what forgotten  his  lesson,  as  he  meant  to  say  "I  speak  French" — but  made  it 
quite  clear  that  he  was  a  Coptic  gentleman  who  asked  us  kindly  for  some 
French  books  for  his  library — which  he  received. 


148  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Our  visit  to  this  latter  place  was  made  memorable  by 
the  first  attempt  of  Pere  Hyacinthe  to  ride  a  donkey.  He 
acquitted  himself  well,  although  he  came  in  last,  having 
walked,  by  preference,  most  of  the  way.  . .  .He  is  one  of 
those  who  go  slowly  but  surely,  and  never  commits  him- 
self to  the  caprice  of — another  party.  . .  . 

Here  we  met  a  strange  tribe  of  people — not  fellahs,  or 
subject  to  the  Egyptian  or  any  other  human  power; — an 
encampment  of  peaceiul  nomads  who  come  here  in  the 
winter  from  the  Lybian  desert,  seeking  the  Nile  and  a 
glimpse  of  civilization — like  our  own  fashionable  society— 
"doing  the  season."  The  men  are  fine,  well-built,  almost 
black — though  not  negroes — and  unmixed,  with  only  an 
attempt  at  a  covering.  The  women,  scarcely  more  clothed, 
keeping  well  in  the  background,  are  veiled — only  by  dis- 
tance. The  children,  however,  from  those  carried  in  the 
arms  of  their  elders,  to  boys  of  twelve  and  thirteen,  (the 
marriageable  age,)  were  perfectly  nude.  The  girls  wore 
a  shred  of  stuff  around  their  loins  and  were  exquisitely 
formed  and  most  graceful  in  movement,  and  also  pertina- 
cious in  their  winning  way  of  asking  for  backsheesh.  Here 
was  an  excellent  occasion  for  a  lesson  in  moral  economy; 
and  as  I  feel  it  a  duty  to  teach  as  we  go,  I  explained  to  these 
children  through  our  dragoman,  that  we  could  not  con- 
scientiously give  backsheesh  to  boys  over  ten  years  old 
who  wrere  so  lacking  in  respect  as  to  present  themselves 
to  foreigners  in  a  state  of  nudity.  They  heard  this  with 
blank  astonishment  as  they  had  no  conception  of  such  a 
reason.  When  we  returned  all  the  older  boys  had  whisps 
of  herbs  about  their  chests — just  under  their  arms,  and  on 
their  heads !  We  carried  our  lesson  of  morals  in  fashions 
no  farther  with  these  children  of  the  desert,  lest  we  should 
inculcate  immoral  ideas,  as  doctors  of  theology  sometimes 
do  in  the  confessional  box.  "To  the  pure  all  things  are 
pure."-  -They  were  certainly  an  idyllic  group  of  children, 


UP  THE  NILE. KARNAK.  149 

made  of  living  bronze,  and  to  complete  the  classical  pic- 
ture, the  older  lads  played  on  the  Pan-pipes, — one  of  which 
I  purchased,  the  finest  of  the  lot,  for  five  cents.  So  ended 
our  donkey  ride  to  Dendereh. 

During  the  voyage  up  the  Nile  we  sailed  only  by  day- 
light. At  eventide  a  convenient  landing,  or  rather  a  moor- 
ing place,  was  found  near  one  bank  or  the  other,,  and  we 
slept  quietly  and  sweetly  through  the  balmy,  noiseless 
night.  The  machinery  was  still,  and  only  from  time  to 
time  some  far-off  village  muezzin's  voice  called  to  prayer. 

Luxor. 

Here  we  felt  almost  at  home,  so  familiar  are  its  ruins 
by  description  and  photography.  We  arrived  at  sunset, 
and  as  the  plank  was  thrown  out  for  the  passengers  to 
land,  a  fine  looking  fellah  among  the  multitude  held  up  a 
letter  and  spoke  our  name.  Friends  had  provided  for  us, 
and  Achmed,  the  excellent  dragoman,  very  soon  had  us 
settled  in  the  paragon  of  an  hotel,  in  the  midst  of  a  forest 
of  palm  trees.  The  dinner  was  incongruous  though  the  cui- 
sine and  service  were  irreproachable:  they  were  French.  .  . 
Most  of  the  people  at  the  table  spoke  my  mother  tongue— 
and — the  conversation  was  not  interesting.  Neither  Egypt 
nor  Egyptians,  nor  the  Nile,  nor  even  mummies,  were  men- 
tioned;— the  subjects  were  hunting-boxes,  and  meets, 
hounds,  golf,  etc.  We  did  not  wait  for  dessert.  We  pre- 
ferred walking  in  the  garden  where  the  Nile  breeze,  and 
the  palm  trees,  and  the  stars  seemed  to  speak  to  us  of  the 
days  and  nights  of  long  ago  when  there  were  no  tourists 
in  this  blessed  country. 

Suddenly  we  were  startled  by  a  dark  figure  appearing 
before  us  in  the  shadow.  It  was  Achmed,  who  said  in 
his  soft  broken  English,  "They  be  all  ready  me-lady.  Shall 
I  say  Madame  or  me-lady?"  he  asked.  I  replied  "As  I 
am  a  French  subject,  you  can  say  Madame."  This  was 


150  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

immediately  communicated  in  an  undertone  to  the  other 
men.  These  fellahs  have  nice  perceptions.  .  .  . 

"How  many  are  you?"  I  asked. 

"Four,  Me-Madame,"  he  replied/'  and  with  two  don- 
key-boys and  myself,  that  makes  seven,  and  as  it  is  almost 
ten  o'clock  we  will  start  as  soon  as  Madame  likes." 

It  was  a  midnight  visit  to  Karnak, — to  see  the  moon 
rise  amid  the  great  ruins. — I  went  without  my  husband 
who  did  not  feel  quite  equal  to  the  night  excursion.  I 
enjoined  upon  Achmed  to  keep  aloof  from  all  other  sight- 
seers. I  was  borne  in  a  chaise-d-porteurs —  an  arm-chair 
fastened  to  two  long  poles — carried  on  the  shoulders  of 
four  stalwart  fellahs,  who  were  constantly  relieved  by  the 
two  reserves.  I  insisted,  however,  on  a  frequent  full  stop, 
for  rest.  Being  carried  or  drawn  by  horses,  or  any  other 
animal,  has  been  the  bane  of  my  life, — but  by  men ! — well, 
it  has  one  advantage — you  can  express  your  feelings  with- 
out the  lash  of  a  driver — and  they  can  express  theirs, 
though  you  do  not  understand  the  language .... 

It  was  my  first  experience  of  this  mode  of  travel,  and  it 
was  not  without  considerable  emotion  that  I  found  myself 
perched  and  swung  high  over  these  dark  figures  of  un- 
known men,  as  I  launched  out  into  the  Egyptian  night, 
across  the  desolate  wold  which  lies  between  Luxor  and 
Karnak,  —  about  four  miles  distant.  The  night  was 
warm,  and  the  air,  in  which  there  was  no  dampness,  was 
most  calming  to  the  senses  and  the  spirit.  But  such  dark- 
ness— unlike  anything  I  had  ever  seen  or  felt.  The  sky 
was  deep  indigo-blue — almost  black, — and  only  now  and 
then  a  star  came  out  to  reassure  me — withdrawing  imme- 
diately. It  was  in  fact,  Egyptian  darkness — visible  and 
palpable. 

In  the  west — over  the  scarcely  discernible  Nile — which 
revealed  itself  at  times  in  the  dark  night  by  a  faint  glint 
on  its  black  surface — a  mile  away, — there  was  a  vague 


UP  THE  NILE. KARNAK. 

horizon  of  the  Lybian  hills,  jet-black  against  dead-black, 
beneath  which  sleep  the  great  kings  (who  were  waiting 
our  visit  on  the  morrow,) — and  just  enough  light  in  the 
darkness  to  show  that  we  were  in  the  midst  of  a  vast, 
high  plain — without  an  object  upon  it — neither  house, 
nor  tent,  nor  tree. 

I  had  stipulated  with  the  men  for  no  smoking  or  con- 
versation— wishing  to  have  the  full  and  perfect  enjoyment 
of  the  solemn  night,  with  its  great  silence  and  its  uncon- 
taminated  air.  Silence  was  incumbent  in  the  dead  world 
and  the  dead  night;  and  the  loamy  earth  gave  forth  no 
sound  to  the  step  of  the  barefooted  carriers. — I  had  some- 
times dreamt  of  flying  in  the  lighter  space, — I  was  now  in 
reality  floating  in  darkness.  I  was  being  borne  over  the 
great  city  of  Thebes,  the  ancient  Metropolis  of  the  world, 
and  all  the  sleeping  centuries  conspired  in  keeping  the 
awrful  silence, — for  they  had  buried  up  its  history.  My 
soul  was  gradually  seized  with  something  akin  to  that 
emotion  which  will,  perhaps,  come  upon  us  in  the  dark  hour 
of  death, — when  we  feel  the  soft,  sombre  curtain  closing 
in  about  us,  and  we  see  no  longer  the  bending  faces  of 
those  we  love — nor  earth,  nor  stars,  nor  any  creature. — 
The  awe  of  Eternity  encompassed  me. 

After  nearly  two  hours,— it  seemed  to  me  a  rapt  cen- 
tury,— there  rose  through  the  weird  darkness  and  super- 
natural silence — the  mournful  moon. 

The  detail  of  that  awful  and  unearthly  night,  I  cannot 
recall.  Indeed  there  was  no  detail ;  I  had  entered  into  the 
Infinite,  where  human  expressions  are  lost.  Earthly  life 
was  only  suggested  by  the  solemn  touches  of  a  waning 
moon. 

Then  I  walked  alone  among  the  gigantic  columns.  A 
fascinating  terror  lurked  in  their  dark  shadows  beneath 
the  half-fallen,  massive  blocks  of  stone  which  hung  in  mid- 
air far  above  and  seemed  to  reel  and  swing  ready  to 


I$2  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

fall  and  crush  me — an  atom,  into  the  other  dust : — into  the 
glorious  rest  of  that  sentient  soil, — into  the  Eternal  sur- 
cease of  sin  and  sorrow, — yet  not  dead — but  keeping  apace 
with  the  evolving  centuries:  the  finite  Self  merged  into 
the  Infinite  Ego. — And  had  these  stones  fallen  I  think  my 
emotion  would  have  been  the  same : — my  whole  being  was 
paralysed  unto — into  death: — calm  and  ready  for  the 
great  transformation; — and  whether  flesh  or  dust — live 
dust  or  dead  dust — it  mattered  not; — for,  after  the  over- 
powering impression  of  the  unity  of  all  gods  in  the  One 
and  Only,  there  is  scarcely  less  the  profound  impression 
of  ultimate  resurrection. 

The  old  desponding  moon  had  disappeared  over  the 
dark  river  and  beyond  the  darker  hills. — Up  above  me 
through  a  rift  of  the  ruined  world  there  shone — high  in 
the  Zenith — a  star. 

Then  they  carried  me  .back — those  dark  men  of  Nubia, 
Libya,  and  Abyssinia; — keeping  the  religious  silence.— 
As  we  passed  down  the  avenue  of  the  Sphinxes  and  out 
upon  the  great  plain  again,  I  asked  Achmed  to  let  the 
men  rest,  but  he  replied :  "Oh  no,  not  yet,  they  are  not  in 
the  least  tired,  for  they  are  all  so  happy  because  Madame 
is  so  happy, — and  they  know  you  are  glad  to  come  to  us,— 
away  up  here  among  our  old  ruins.  But  if  Madame 
would  allow  them  to  sing  a  little,  I  am  sure  they  would 
be  still  gladder,  for  that  rests  us  so  much  when  we  are 
carrying  something,  or  working  hard, — for  Madame  may 
not  know — we  pray  when  we  sing." 

"Oh,  yes,  now  let  them  sing,"  I  replied,  "sing  all  they 
like — only  let  it  be  low — and  tell  me  what  is  the  meaning 
of  their  songs." 

He  replied,  "It  is  only  a  little  prayer,  asking  Allah  to 
bless  us  as  we  carry  you  in  the  dark  night  over  the  ancient 
city  of  Thebes." 

And  to  the  rhythmic  movement  of  their  steps  they  be- 


UP  THE  NILE. KARNAK.  153 

gan  a  low  refrain,  so  soft  and  sweet,  and  yet  so  human, 
in  its  supplicating  tones,  that  shortly  I  caught  it  up,  and 
soon  we  all  sang  together ;  and  all  the  way  back, — through 
the  sublime  darkness  of  that  glorious  Egyptian  night.  I 
was  sorry  when  we  began  to  descry  faintly  the  habitations 
of  the  forlorn  city.  I  could  have  remained  another  cen- 
tury, swinging  and  singing,  soft  and  low,  on  the  shoulders 
of  those  dusky  men — who  seemed  nearer  than  brethren  :— 
they  had  become  my  children.  And  there  will  ever  remain 
with  me,  when  nights  are  dark — and  the  old  moon  melan- 
choly— something  akin  to  the  solemn  rapture  of  my  soul 
in  that  weird  journey  across  the  black  and  silent  plain 
which  covers  Thebes — from  Luxor  to  Karnak. 

Soon  thereafter,  on  a  bright  morning,  we  were  on  the 
quiet  little  steamer  pushing  up  the  still-flowing  river. 

O,  the  joy  of  going  onward  and  upward! — of  being 
borne — and  not  carried ! — And  Oh !  the  joy  of  being  born 
into  this  beautiful  world! 

As  we  sailed,  or  rather  glided,  up  the  radiant  river, 
through  the  effulgent  light  of  that  Oriental  morning,  we 
felt  in  our  soul  a  thrilling  joy  akin  to  that  which  the  Crea- 
tor of  the  world  must  have  felt  when  He  looked  forth 
upon  that  First  Morning  in  the  Early  Beginning — and  pro- 
nounced it  "good." — Only  we  were  \vorshipful. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

UPPER  EGYPT ASSOUAN. 

ANY  description  of  mine  of  life  on  the  Nile  would  be 
feeble  and  futile, — for  those  who  never  travel  know 
all  about  it;  but  this  much  I  must  say:  I  have  travelled  in 
many  lands,  and  have  breathed  the  balmy  winters  in  the 
south  of  France,  Algeria,  Tunis,  in  Italy,  Florida,  and 
California, — but  nothing  approaches  this  marvelous  cli- 
mate of  Egypt!  The  beatitude  of  breathing  is  only  here. 

Above  all  else,  however,  we  are  interested  in  the  people ; 
— this  strange  race  who  carry  the  history  of  the  past  in 
their  lithe  forms,  graceful  movements,  and  deep  dark 
eyes, — but  most  of  all  in  their  resisting  force  and  native 
intelligence.  Brains  keep  to  the  front.  There  is  igno- 
rance, but  no  degeneracy.  At  every  landing  they  swarmed 
upon  us,  these  poor  fellahs — some  timidly,  others  courage- 
ously, and  many  asking  for  backsheesh.  They  often  en- 
cumber the  pier  and  the  plank,  hindering  business  affairs, 
yet  they  were  never  treated  with  harshness  by  the  upper 
native  class.  Occasionally,  however,  an  onslaught  was 
made  upon  them  by  some  one  belonging  to  the  boat,  then 
they  scattered  in  an  instant,  but  returned  again,  unchanged 
in  humor  and  demeanor. 

There  is  an  intermediate  class  who  bring  their  wares 
and  products  to  sell.  Mixed  with  the  Mussulmans,  who 
are  the  large  majority,  there  are  almost  always  a  number 
of  Copts.  In  the  larger  towns  there  is  a  considerable 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  I  55 

and  very  respectable  community  of  these  native  Christians, 
but  as  they  are  of  the  same  race  and  customs,  save  in  their 
religion,  they  are  not  outwardly  distinguishable  to  stran- 
gers. 

The  principal  commodities  they  bring  for  sale  are  long 
sugar  canes  of  12,  15,  and  20  feet  in  length,  and  bread 
which  resembles  a  thick,  soft  pancake,  made  of  coarse 
ground  wheat,  slightly  sifted — which  makes  it  very  nu- 
tritive, healthy,  and  really  excellent  to  the  taste. 

These  gaunt,  frugally-fed  fellahs  work  all  day  long 
in  the  broiling  sun,  where  a  full-fed,  muscular  European 
workman  would  die  before  noon.  They  receive  for  a  day's 
work  but  a  few  farthings,  and  I  think  the  average  work- 
man lives  on  about  two  sous  a  day,  women  on  less,  and  the 
children,  after  they  are  weaned,  live  on  air  and  water  and 
sunshine,  with  a  few  herbs  and  a  little  bread  added  thereto. 
The  health  of  the  natives  is  generally  good,  but  all  over 
Africa  and  the  East,  many  are  afflicted  with  ophthalmia, 
owing  to  the  dust  and  \vant  of  care  of  the  eyes.  I  have 
seen  poor  Mussulmans  who  make  scrupulous  ablutions 
and  wash  their  mouths  with  vigor  several  times  a  day,  but 
who,  if  they  are  inclined  to  this  terrible  malady,  are  afraid 
to  wash  their  eyes  thoroughly.  They  have  the  fatal 
prejudice  that  when  the  terrible  disease  shows  itself,  the 
eyes  must  not  be  touched.  But  blindness  is  not  considered 
such  a  disaster  with  them  as  with  us ;  as  they  deem  afflic- 
tion rather  a  blessing  and  bear  it  with  a  cheerful  resigna- 
tion. Insanity  denotes  sanctity;  and  both  blind  and  in- 
sane are  treated  with  special  care  and  affection.  But  it 
is  surprising  that  there  is  no  more  efficacious  means  em- 
ployed by  the  government  to  prevent  and  treat  ophthalmic 
contagion.  There  is,  however,  a  free  English  hospital  at 
Luxor,  recently  built  mainly  by  Cook  and  Sons,  the  cele- 
brated tourists'  agents, — a  worthy  thank-offering  for  their 
great  wealth  acquired  on  the  Nile. 


156  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

The  landing  of  the  boat  is  very  exciting  and  the  barter- 
ing with  the  natives  for  their  simple  wares  is  an  important 
affair.  And  here  I  must,  in  conscience,  record  what  is 
not  to  the  honor,  and  sometimes  not  to  the  probity  of 
travellers : — the  way  they  "beat  down"  the  poor  fellahs  for 
their  trifle-wares, — over  which  they  have  spent  weeks,  and 
perhaps  months, — and  which  are  so  beautiful  to  them,  and 
so  poor  and  worthless  to  us, — save  as  a  souvenir  of  the 
Nile.  The  haggling  to  get  them  as  low  as  possible  is 
simply  shameful.  Then  after  the  boat  is  pushed  off,  there 
is  inevitably  a  comparison  among  the  travellers  of  their 
purchases  and  their  prices,  with  high  exultation  on  the 
part  of  those  who  get  the  most  for  the  least, — what  they 
call  a  "bargain."  And  during  this  voyage  I  saw  good  and 
devout  Christians,  and  rich  withal,  among  the  most  deter- 
mined hagglers  and  the  most  self-complacent  boasters.— 
Poor  fellahs !  Mean  Christians !  There  was  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  gentleman,  occupying  a  post  in  the  government  of 
Egypt,  who  upon  my  remonstrance  for  such  cupidity 
among  the  rich  travelling  public,  said,  "Ah,  madame,  you 
don't  know  these  fellahs  as  I  do — there  is  only  one  way 
to  treat  them,  beat  them  down!  and  keep  them  down!"  I 
do  not  think  it  best  to  give  my  rejoinder,  only  I  must  say, 
in  duty  to  him,  that  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage  he  showed 
a  more  humane  spirit.  Though  John  Bull  is  a  pugilistic 
fellow,  he  has  heart  in  his  stout  breast,  and  appreciates  "a 
straight  hit  from  the  shoulder." 

Then  there  were  some  very  doubtful  ways  of  amuse- 
ment among  a  certain  class  of  voyagers, — and  they  were 
neither  Anglo-Saxons  nor  French, — who  immensely  en- 
joyed throwing  down  buckets  of  water,  orange  peel,  and 
nutshells  upon  upturned  faces  of  the  crowds  of  little  chil- 
dren and  blind  beggars, — crying  out  in  reply  to  their  ap- 
peals: "Das  ist  backsheesh!"  And  language  which  was 
meant  to  be  witty,  but  which  cannot  be  repeated, — was  used 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  157 

frequently  toward  young  girls  and  women.  Respect  for 
womankind  is  not  a  cardinal  virtue  with  all  men  who  carry 
sabre-cuts  across  their  university  cheeks  and  noses,  no 
more  than  they  are  proofs  of  moral  prowess. 

The  Nile  boats  are  usually  officered  by  British  subjects 
and  manned  by  natives, — and  upon  inquiry,  I  found  that 
the  Egyptians  were  the  only  good  navigators  on  the  river, 
and  the  only  ones  to  be  trusted — within  a  mile  of  a  rum 
shop  or  bar !  One  captain  told  me  that  he  had  been  obliged 
to  change  his  English  stokers  four  times  in  a  short  period, 
as  they  invariably  got  drunk  upon  every  occasion ; — 
whereas  he  declared  the  natives  never  drink  and  are  al- 
ways at  their  post.  "When  the  boat  is  in  their  hands,"  he 
said,  "I  could  sleep  from  Cairo  to  Assouan,  if  I  liked,  in 
perfect  confidence,  sure  that  nothing  would  happen  to  the 
boat,  to  the  passengers,  or  to  the  cargo,  during  the  whole 
trip." 

And  these  humble  boatmen  are  not  ashamed  of  their 
religion,  nor  their  poverty,  nor  of  their  sobriety.  Very 
often  looking  down  from  our  deck,  we  saw  them  turn  to 
the  east  and  prostrate  themselves  in  prayer  on  their  cleanly 
scrubbed  planks,  upon  which  they  usually  spread  a  bit  of 
carpet,  old  but  scrupulously  clean, — carrying  their  religion 
and  their  church  with  them,  and  paying  no  attention  to 
the  coarse  ribaldry  which  sometimes  fell  to  their  lot  from 
the  "higher  civilization"  on  the  first  class  deck.  Have  we 
not  indeed  something  to  learn  in  the,  example  of  these 
simple,  sober,  and  religious  people? 

There  were  frequently  native  families  aboard,  and  on 
every  boat,  as  on  every  railway  train  in  Moslem  countries, 
there  are  cabins  and  conjpartments  specially  reserved  for 
veiled  women,  Christians  as  well  as  Moslems;  and  I  must 
say,  that  not  only  the  Oriental  men,  but  European  officers 
and  servants,  show  more  courtesy  to  the  Oriental  women 
than  to  those  of  the  Occident.  The  veiled  woman  of  the 


158  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

shut-in-kingdom  commands  consideration  and  respect 
everywhere. 

We  arrived  at  Assouan,  the  capital  of  upper  Egypt,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  28th  of  January,  and  it  was  as  warm, 
if  not  as  hot,  as  a  July  day  in  Paris.  Lighter  apparel  was 
necessary  as  soon  as  we  left,  the  cool  breeze  of  the  river. 

The  city  is  on  the  high  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  in 
its  aspect  reminds  one  very  much  of  a  young  town  on  the 
banks  of  the  upper  Mississippi. 

We  were  scarcely  settled  in  the  fine  hotel,  when  we 
received  the  visit  of  the  Governor  of  Upper  Egypt,  Colonel 
Aly  Hai'dar  Bey,  who  proffered  us  his  offices  in  every  pos- 
sible manner.  His  Excellency  is  a  fine  Egyptian  gentle- 
man,— intelligent  and  cultivated,  having  pursued  his  stud- 
ies in  Europe  and  particularly  in  Paris.  The  purity  of 
his  French,  and  his  sympathetic  manners  almost  led  us  to 
believe  him  a  compatriot.  Of  course  he  is  a  Mussulman; 
but ,  as  with  all  educated  and  large-minded  people,  has 
nothing  of  fanaticism — though  tenacious  of  his  faith. 
Among  other  agreeable  things,  he  brought  us  an  invita- 
tion from  the  great  Sheik,  Bicher  Bey,  to  -visit  him  in  his 
village  out  in  the  desert.  This  Sheik  is  the  most  important 
personage  of  the  country, — as  he  is  the  chief  or  king  of  a 
great  people, — or  I  should  say  of  different  tribes, — for  he 
is  the  independent  ruler  of  that  immense  nomadic  people 
who  occupy  the  vast  desert  region  lying  between  the  Nile 
and  the  Red  Sea.  Of  recent  years  he  has  been  induced  to 
recognize  the  Egyptian  government  which  has,  in  conse- 
quence, ennobled  him  with  the  title  of  Bey,  and  also  be- 
stowed upon  him  many  privileges,  in  recognition  of  the 
peaceful  and  kindly  relations  which  now  exist  between 
them.  He  is  a  power  to  be  counted  with,  in  religion  and 
in  war,  and  his  people  are  devoted  to  him — knowing  no 
other  ruler.  The  well-known  Bicheri  are  among  his  tribes. 

Our  immense  room  at  the  hotel,  high,  cool,  and  com- 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  159 

fortable,  with  its  eight  windows — which,  with  their  heavy 
iron  bars,  gave  it  rather  the  aspect  of  a  magnificent  prison 
—contained  as  a  delicate  compliment  to  me — an  American 
rocking  chair,  in  which  I  rested,  but  did  not  rock, — that 
was  too  suggestive  of  the  sea,  (and  then  I  am  convinced 
that  rocking-chairs  are  one  cause  of  the  ailments  of  Ameri- 
can women).  Being  on  the  ground-floor,  we  had  n  fine 
view  of  all  that  passed  in  the  street,  on  the  Nile,  over  on 
the  island  of  Elephantine,  just  opposite,  and  out  into  the 
desert  beyond. 

Early  the  next  morning  after  our  arrival,  we  saw  a 
number  of  tall  magnificent  cream-colored  camels  approach- 
ing with  saddles,  caparisons,  and,  attendants  which  indi- 
cated rank.  At  the  same  instant  the  Governor  sent  to  say 
that  the  Sheik,  Bicher  Bey,  had  asked  him  to  accompany 
us,  and  had  sent  his  camels  to  convey  us  to  his  residence. 
These  tribes  are  semi-nomadic  and  during  the  summer 
move  about  in  the  vast  desert,  and  only  come  to  their  city 
for  the  winter. 

I  said  nothing,  but  I  must  confess  that  it  was  with  no 
little  trepidation  that  I  mounted  the  ladder  which  took  me 
to  the  top  of  the  kneeling  mountain.  Ready  and  accom- 
plished hands  landed  me  in  what  was  more  a  high-backed 
chair  than  a  saddle,  but  before  I  had  time  to  reflect,  much 
less  to  consent,  there  was  a  great  lunge  forward,  and  then 
another  lunge  backward,  and  we  were  in  the  upper  air 
and  en-route.  The  Governor  rode  a  superb  Arab  horse 
at  my  side.  We  passed  through  the  sinuous  streets  out 
through  the  Moslem  cemetery,  and  on  into  the  desert, 
where  I  could  descry  no  sign  of  a  dwelling  amidst  the  un- 
dulating sand.  After  about  an  hour's  ride  we  came  upon 
it  unawares,  so  like  the  sand  in  color  was  the  town-resi- 
dence of  the  great  chief.  .  It  was  well  built,  in  rectangular 
streets,  with  large  houses  of  sunburnt  brick,  one  story 
high.  From  my  lofty  seat  I  could  see  that  the  houses  were 


l6o  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

mostly  without  roof,  or  half-roofed, — having  large  open 
courts  within.  At  the  entrance  of  the  main  street,  \ve  were 
met  by  an  advance-guard  of  tall  retainers  who  surrounded 
us  with  repeated  salaams  of  welcome,  and  then  we  were 
soon  amidst  a  score  of  still  taller  and  more  soldier-like 
men,  and  before  I  had  quite  time  to  take  in  the  novel  scene, 
a  tall  dark  Arab — head  and  shoulders  taller  than  them  all 
—with  a  scepter  in  his  hand, — appeared  before  my  camel, 
which  immediately  at  sight  of  him,  fell  upon  its  knees. 
It  was  the  Sheik  himself,  and  he  forthwith  assisted  me  to 
alight,  and  with  such  grace,  strength,  and  dexterity  as 
no  lady  could  find  outside  the  Arab  world.  The  Governor 
had  already  alighted  and  stood  by  his  side,  and  the  formal 
presentation  of  Pere  Hyacinthe  and  myself  took  place. 
Salutations  were  reiterated,  and  then  we  were  led  within. 
We  traversed  court  after  court,  with  nothing  but  walls 
around,  sand  floors  beneath,  and  blue  sky  overhead.  At 
last  we  reached  a  vaster  room  which  was  partly  roofed, 
and  what  an  unexpected  scene  met  us!  Several  steps  led 
up  to  a  high,  carpeted  floor  around  which  were  divans  of 
rich  upholstery  and  f auteuils,  all  gilded ;  and  in  the  midst 
thereof  a  large  round  table  covered  with  silken  damask 
and  laid  with  silver-ware  and  Sevres  china.  At  the  back 
of  this  was  a  withdrawing  room,  furnished  with  massive 
Florentine  carved  and  gold-gilt  furniture,  and  mirrors 
from  ceiling  to  floor — (mirrors  are  not  usual  in  Moslem 
houses — which  fact  has  perhaps  a  moral) .  Tea  was  await- 
ing our  arrival  and  was  served  by  the  Sheik  himself,  with 
all  the  grace  of  a  West-end  Londoner  to  the  manner  of 
"tiffin"  born.  The  large  fauteuil  opposite  the  Sheik  was 
for  the  lady  guest,  my  husband  at  his  right,  the  Governor 
at  mine.  Though  servants  of  all  rank  abound,  they  would 
be  quite  out  of  place  and  embarrassing  with  the  Orientals, 
who  deem  it  the  highest  honor  to  serve  their  guests  them- 
selves, becoming  thereby  according  to  Oriental  Gospel, 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  l6l 

the  servants  indeed  of  those  who  do  them  honor  in  accept- 
ing their  hospitality.  This  is  as  sincere  as  it  is  dignified, 
and  as  gracefully  done  as  by  those  whose  prerogative 
they  usurp ; — for  according  to  our  ideas,  it  is  the  rightful 
privilege  of  the  lady  of  the  house,  to  be  the  server  of  teas 
and  the  dispenser  of  indoor  hospitalities. 

In  height,  perfect  build,  and  demeanor, — with  fine 
straight  Caucasian  features  and  deep  bronze  complexion 

—amalgamated  gold  and  steel — a  keen  black,  intelligent 
eye,  and  benevolent,  though  austere,  expression  of  face  ;— 
this  proud  son  of  the  desert,  this  great  Moslem  Sheik, — 
carried  off  the  palm  in  high  and  noble  dignity.  He,  like 
his  body-guard,  wore  a  long  graceful  black  robe,  like  the 
Coptic  cassock,  open  down  the  front,  with  long  open 
sleeves,  beneath  which  was  worn  fine  black  raiment,  with 
a  broad  winding  belt.  His  large  turban  was  of  black  silk. 
In  his  hand  he  carried  his  baton  of  authority,  which  repre- 
sents alike  the  crook  or  crozier  of  the  pastoral  kings  and 
the  ruler's  scepter.  He  spoke  many  dialects  and,  of  course, 
the  classic  Arabic,  but  alas!  no  tongue  which  we  could 
understand. 

The  Governor  was  our  interpreter.  For  an  hour  we 
asked  and  replied  to  a  multitude  of  questions, — the  asking 
being  certainly  most  on  our  side;  and  how  admirably 
straight-forward,  but  respectful,  without  circumlocution 
or  restraint,  were  the  answers; — and  what  strange  and 
valuable  information  he  gave  us.  One  of  the  most  inter- 
esting subjects  was  that  of  ethnology,  and  when  my  hus- 
band asked  whence  his  straight  and  fine  features,  deep 
bronze  skin,  and  straight  hair,  he  told  us  that  their  history 

—which  is,  of  course,  tradition,  as  these  people  have  no 
literature  save  the  Koran,  which  is  common  to  all  Islam — 
shows  that  their  race  was  of  European  origin,  probably 
Aryan: — "Our  color  comes  from  the  sun,"  he  explained, 


l62  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

"Some  of  my  people  have  straight  hair  and  other  tribes 
have  crisp  hair,  but  none  are  negroes." 

In  coming  I  had  said  to  the  Governor,  "Very  naturally 
the  Sheik  is  married,"  to  which  he  replied,  "Certainly,  as 
all  Moslems  marry;"  and  when  I  carried  my  curiosity  a 
little  further,  I  found  that  His  Excellency  knew  absolutely 
nothing  more,  as  inquiry  is  never  made  concerning  harem 
life,  even  by  the  most  intimate  friends ;  for  the  kings  of  the 
desert  have  court  protocol  as  rigorous  as  our  sovereigns. 
So  of  course  concerning  this  great  Sheik  who  lives  outside 
the  more  advanced  and  progressive  Moslem  life,  there  was 
little  hope  of  hearing,  and  much  less  seeing  anything  of 
his  mysterious  shut-in-kingdom. 

I  had  given  a  quiet  signal  to  the  Governor  that  we  must 
not  abuse  hospitality  by  remaining  too  long, — which  sig- 
nal, though  given  in  a  covert  way,  was  seized  at  once  by 
the  quick  eye  of  the  Sheik,  and  he  asked  with  perfect  self- 
possession,  if  "Madame  would  not  like  to  visit  his  Madame, 
who  was  waiting  very  anxiously  to  make  my  acquaint- 
ance." Rarely  have  I  been  more  surprised,  and  never 
more  gratified;  and  I  was  most  happy  to  hear  the  waiting 
party  spoken  of  in  the  singular. 

Then,  using  the  Governor  for  interpreter,  I  was  obliged 
to  tell  him,  and  he  to  translate  to  the  Sheik,  all  that  I 
wished  to  say  to  his  wife.  For  this  I  was  forced  to  ask 
some  questions — and  the  first  of  all  as  to  her  health  and 
children; — and  was  assured  touching  the  former  with 
graceful  salaams,  and  informed  in  the  most  easy  manner 
concerning  the  latter: — that  he  had  a  son  of  four  years 
old,  his  wife  being  now  sixteen.  The  Sheik  appeared  to 
be  about  thirty-two. 

Leaving  the  Governor  and  the  Pere  to  their  conversa- 
tion, the  Sheik  led  me  through  a  labyrinth  of  courts  and 
corridors, — for  the  harem  and  the  salemlik  are  always 
well  separated  (two  distinct  principalities  in  the  great 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  163 

kingdom) — the  same  bare,  sand-brick  walls,  and  hard 
sand  floors,  with  the  same  cerulean  roof  overhead.  -Not 
an  object,  nor  a  person  was  to  be  seen,  save  in  one  (was 
it  an  augury,?)  a  beautiful  little  black  lamb.  Then  through 
another  door — and  there  she  stood,  on  the  covered  dais  :— 
a  dream  of  beauty!  white  as  milk  with  the  faintest  sea- 
shell  blush  of  pink  upon  her  cheeks  and  so  transparent  in 
complexion  that  the  blue  veins  were  easily  traced  upon 
her  hands  and  broad  finely  developed  forehead.  She  was 
evidently  of  pure  Circassian,  or  Georgian  blood;  her  type 
of  beauty  was  preeminently  intellectual.  She  stood  in  the 
middle  of  her  throne-room  to  receive  me  like  a  reigning 
queen — with  great  dignity,  yet  with  suave  and  graceful 
manner.  With  that  mysterious  and  indescribable  recog- 
nition which  two  sympathetic  women  possess  in  meeting 
for  the  first  time,  she  and  I  simultaneously  held  out  our 
hands  and  embraced  each  other,  she  kissing  me  on  either 
shoulder,  the  mark  of  reverence  for  superior  age,  which, 
with  the  Oriental,  is  a  first  consideration.  After  repeated 
assurance  of  welcome,  which  I  could  easily  understand, 
her  husband  began  to  explain  my  message.  But  to  pre- 
sent the  scene  to  the  life,  I  must  first  say  how  she  was 
dressed :  She  wore  a  long  flowing  soft  blue  muslin  gown, 
the  princess  style,  which  is  semi-adjusted  and  flowing  full 
with  a  train — and,  to  my  surprise  she  wore  few  ornaments ; 
which  proves  that  in  the  Orient,  as  in  the  Occident,  real 
beauty  and  real  distinction,  as  well  as  good  taste,  require 
few  accessories.  There  was  no  henna  upon  her  nails  nor 
antimony  about  her  eyes,  whose  lashes  and  eye-brows  were 
jet  black,  as  well  as  her  wealth  of  hair,  which  was  plaited 
in  two  massive  braids,  the  classical  Egyptian  style  which 
we  see  on  its  monuments,  falling  just  in  front  of  the  ear— 
and  almost  to  her  knees;  the  back  of  the  head  and  hair, 
enveloped  in  a  pretty  silken  scarf,  falling  down  the  back. 
There  was  one  very  curious  detail:  just  at  the  beginning 


164  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

of  the  straight  parting 'of  the  hair,  above  the  alabaster 
forehead,  were  woven  in  with  infinite  skill,  small  blue  and 
golden  beads,  strung  on  each  hair, — a  little  ornament, 
forming  a  sort  of  coronet. 

And  now  began,  in  our  respective  and  unintelligible 
tongues,  yet  perfectly  understood,  conversation.  I  was, 
however,  struck  by  the  changed,  though  manly  attitude 
of  the  great  Sheik, — which  plainly  showed  that  he  was 
in  the  presence  of  his  sovereign !  And  she  was  quite  con- 
scious of  her  sovereignty.  Yet  there  was  certainly  a 
happy  reign  of  mutual  respect  and  love.  After  she  had 
charged  him  with  much  to  say  to  me,  with  her  graceful 
gesture  and  pretty  speech — we  again  embraced,  and  the 
Sheik  and  I  returned  to  the  salemlik,  where,  with  great 
precision  he  carefully  and  most  attentively, — as  a  prime 
minister  would  convey  the  orders  of  his  ruler, — recapitu- 
lated, through  the  Governor,  all  that  his  wife  would  have 
me  know.  And  what  touched  her  most  was  my  anxieties 
concerning  the  moral  education  of  our  sons  in  the  fear  of 
God.  She  was  evidently  as  pleased  as  surprised  that  re- 
ligion was  our  great  preoccupation.  And  another  thing 
which  surprised  her  was, — and  this  the  Sheik  recounted 
with  equal  gravity  as  a  matter  of  state  or  religion, — that 
I  had  n6t  asked  to  see  her  jewelry  and  fine  clothes, — as  it 
is  currently  believed  by  Moslem  women  that  Christian 
women  only  wish  to  visit  Oriental  women  to  see  their 
treasures  and  furbelows.  I  was  certainly  complimented 
by  hearing  that  this  little  Moslem  wife  and  sixteen-year 
old  mother,  of  a  nomadic  tribe  of  the  African  desert,  had 
found  me,  an  Anglo-Saxon,  belonging  to  the  highest  civ- 
ilization,— a  serious,  polite,  and  religious  woman !  Indeed 
I  was  never  more  flattered  in  my  life!  Such  appreciation 
was  well  worth  going  for  "down  into  Egypt,"  "up  the 
Nile,"  and  "out  into  the  desert."  Whether  she  was  born 
Mussulman,  or  Christian  as  most  Circassians  and  Geor- 


UPPER  EGYPT. ASSOUAN.  165 

gians  are,  I  do  not  know;  but  I  felt  that  I  loved  this  fair 
little  Moslem  lady  at  first  and  only  sight. 

On  taking  our  departure,  I  said  to  His  Excellency, 
.Richer  Bey,  that  my  visit  to  him  and  the  acquaintance  of 
his  wife,  were  among  the  most  instructing  and  happy 
events  of  our  long  voyage.  After  his  warmly  expressed 
desire  that  we  might  come  again  to  Upper  Egypt,  and  visit 
him  and  his  wife,  I  said:  "Well,  if  God  wills  it,  we  will 
come  again, — but  if  we  are  prevented  by  circumstance,  and 
our  advanced  age,  from  seeing  you  again  in  this  world, — 
we  hope  our  son,  whom  God  has  given  us,  will  meet  your 
son  some  day, — but  never  on  the  battlefield !  And  though 
we  may  never  meet  on  earth  again,  we  feel  certain  that 
we  are  friends  for  life,  and  for  eternity,  and  our  sons  will 
be  friends,  and  also  our  peoples:  yours  wandering  in  the 
great  deserts  of  Africa,  and  ours  dwelling  in  the  great 
cities  and  fertile  gardens  of  Europe.  They  will  gradually 
be  drawn  together  by  mutual  needs,  understanding  and  re- 
spect, and  above  all  by  the  love  of  the  brotherhood  of  the 
children  of  God!" 

The  Sheik,  who  was  sitting  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  table,  hereupon  arose  and  came  to  me,  taking  both  my 
hands  in  his,  pressing  them  warmly  and  in  silence, — and 
with  deep  emotion,  in  which  all  present  participated,  pre- 
sented me  witJi  his  sceptre,  saying,  solemnly:  "We  and  our 
sons  are  friends  for  life — forever!" 

Then  we -made  our  adieux,  and  took  our  departure, — 
and  as  we  crossed  the  court  the  Governor  said  to  us: 
"Well,  this  is  the  first  time  I  have  ever  seen  tears  in  the 
eyes  of  an  Arab!" 

As  we  returned  across  the  desert  and  through  the  an- 
cient Moslem  cemetery,  which  seemed  like  a  city  in  ruins 
—almost  buried  in  the  drifting  sands,  hundreds  of  people, 
particularly  women  and  children,  came  flocking  to  salute 
the  Governor  and  his  Christian  friends. — Thus  ended  one 


1 66  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

of  the  most  interesting  episodes  of  our  travels — of  our 
lives. 

How  often  since  have  I  recalled,  and  ever  shall  recall, 
as  I  wander  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  that  fair  young  Mos- 
lem wife — a  sovereign  lady — a  queen  in  her  shut-in  king- 
dom— and  her  liege  lord  and  obedient  servant — the  noble 
Sheik  Bicher  Bey! 

They  will  read  these  lines  some  day — for  the  gracious 
Princess  Nazli  has  offered  to  translate  them  into  Arabic— 
and  then  they  will  be  again  assured  of  our  abiding  respect 
and  affection. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT. 

THE  next  morning-  beneath  our  windows,  awaiting 
.  the  opening  of  the  shutters,  was  a  group  of  Bicheri 
Arabs,  among  whom  was  the  Adonis  who  was  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  of  Races  at  Chicago  in  1893.  His 
features  are  pure  Aryan,  and  in  beauty  of  face  and  mould 
of  form,  he  resembles  that  paragon,  the  young  Antonius 
of  the  Capitol.  Unlike  the  other  principal  tribe  of  Bicher- 
Bey,  he  and  his  companions  are  swathed  in  white — not 
woolen  stuff,  like  the  Arabs  of  Tunis  and  Algiers,  but 
cotton,  as  they  dwell  in  the  warmer  latitudes.  His  crispy 
hair  hangs  in  innumerable  small  curls  about  his  head, 
while  on  the  top  is  a  high,  white,  flattened  mass  of  lard — at 
least  a  pound — and  through  this  crown  a  long  wooden  stil- 
etto is  thrust — the  sign  of  his  high  position.  This  fashion 
of  putting  on  a  turban  of  lard — and  it  is  very  pure  and 
white — is  common  with  some  nomads,  and  what  is  strange, 
it  never  seems  to  become  offensive,  or  to  melt. 

Our  Bicheri  Adonis  was  most  happy  to  know  that  I 
was  American — and  was  full  of  admiration  and  praise  of 
my  native  land, — consequently  we  became  good  friends.  I 
must  say  that  this  young  native  of  the  desert  is,  I  think, 
the  only  gentleman  I  have  ever  seen,  who  has  not  taken 
on  "airs"  after  a  six  months'  sojourn  in  Christian  lands. 
He  was,  however,  always  accompanied  by  an  uncle  or 
friends,  and  though  eighteen  years  old,  he  was  not  allowed 


l68  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

to  run  the  gauntlet  of  our  American  streets  alone — even 
in  broad  daylight. 

'  Our  windows,  being  on  the  ground-floor,  were  the 
center  of  attraction  for  a  constant  group  of  amiable  na- 
tives, with  whom  I  held  frequent  and  most  interesting 
conversations — our  dragoman  always  present,  to  ward  off 
importunity,  and  translate  for  us.  The  Governor  had 
seen  the  crowd  from  his  windows  and  sent  to  disperse 
them,  fearing  we  might  be  annoyed;  at  the  same  time 
assuring  us  of  their  utmost  kindly  feeling.  We  reassured 
him  that  we  were  not  in  the  least  annoyed,  but  considered 
them  as  friends  whom  we  had  come  a  long  way  to  see. 
Thenceforward,  every  day,  we  held  grand  receptions 
through  our  window-bars  with  this  amiable  and  intelligent 
people.  Sometimes  a  group  of  women  would  come,  usu- 
ally young  girls — as  matrons,  even  of  the  humbler  class, 
are  too  dignified  to  go  much  abroad.  And  when  women, 
or  girls  of  marriageable  age  (which  is  about  twelve  years) 
appeared,  the  men  immediately  fell  back  out  of  respect. 
Among  these  young  women  who  came  one  day  was  a 
young  Bicheri  girl  of  about  fourteen — developed  as  girls 
would  be  with  us  at  seventeen.  She  came  as  did  all  the 
women,  entirely  enveloped,  save  her  beautiful  eyes,  in  a 
large  white  ha'ik,  which  is  like  a  simple  sheet,  though 
gracefully  worn.  As  she  approached  my  window  through 
which  we  shook  hands,  she  giving  me  her  right  hand  while 
putting  up  her  left  to  clasp  the  window  sill, — thus,  though 
holding  fast  her  drapery  in  each  hand,  and  perfectly 
screened  from  the  outer  world,  her  face  and  whole  form 
were  revealed  to  me.  She  was  entirely  nude  save  for  a 
short  skirt  of  red  cashmere  beautifully  and  heavily  em- 
broidered in  varigated  beads  and  tiny  shells,  which  hung 
from  her  loins  almost  to  her  knees.  Her  skin  was  of  deep 
brown-yellow  bronze  in  which  was  gold.  Never  did  can- 
vas or  marble  reveal  such  faultless  proportions  and  ex- 


PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT.  169 

quisite  lines  of -grace  and  beauty!  She  wore  silver  chased 
armlets  above  the  elbow,  and  anklets,  and  for  a  necklace  a 
triple  row  of  deep  red  coral  with  another  wide  lace-like 
work  of  blue  and  gold  beads,  which  made  a  modest  sem- 
blance of  covering  for  her  beautiful  young  bosom,  while 
a  mass  of  trinkets  jingled  about  her  ears.  She  had  a  most 
intelligent  face  with  soft  gazelle  eyes,  nose  slightly -aqui- 
line, a  sweet,  winning  expression, — and,  with  all,  perfect 
unconsciousness.  These  women  seldom  have  mirrors,  and 
the  adornment  of  their  forms  is  less  of  vanity  than  a 
matter  of  decorum  and  self-respect, — just  as  their  daily 
ablutions  are  a  religious  duty. 

As  in  Christian  lands  there  are  beggars  in  Egypt;  and 
even  among  these  desert  wastes  there  are  those  who  ask 
for  a  "present,"  (backsheesh)  particularly  little  children; 
but  it  really  seems  here  more  of  a  fashion  and  a  compli- 
ment paid  to  the  traveller  than  a  necessity.  Many  trav- 
ellers willingly  give  to  those  beautiful  little  creatures, 
scarcely  clothed, — yet  most  modest  and  respectful.  We 
might  send  our  children  to  dancing  schools  a  score  of 
years  without  arriving  at  even  an  imitation  of  the  native 
grace  and  winsome  ways  of  these  little  children  of  the 
desert!  I  must  confess  that  I  gave  them  no  money — but 
something  infinitely  better, — quiet  little  conversations  and 
such  friendly  counsel  that  the  second  day  no  little  hands 
were  held  out  in  my  vicinity,  save  to  clasp  mine — and  after- 
wards kiss  their  own  in  token  of  respect — begging  me  to 
visit  their  mothers.  Indeed  the  invitations  were  constant 
and  pressing  to  go  to  the  homes  of  the  people,  and  fre- 
quently the  women  came  out  in  the  streets  plucking  and 
kissing  my  garments  with  entreaties  to  go  in  and  visit 
them,  which  I  often  did.  The  embarrassment  was  the 
difficulty  of  conversation;  but  with  these  people,  everything 
is  simple.  Though  the  sexes,  except  those  of  near  kin- 
ship, are  separated,  there  is  no  distrust  of  men  on  the 


THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

part  of  women,  or  disrespect  of  women  on  the  part  of 
men.  When  I  entered  their  houses,  our  dragoman,  quick 
and  intelligent,  either  found  a  near  relative  who  spoke 
some  language  I  could  understand,  or  they  spoke  through 
the  door — the  dragoman  standing  with  his  face  outward 
—translating  for  us.  Simple  and  straight  methods  are 
always  found  for  right  proceedings,  even  under  difficulties. 
I  shall  never  forget  one  dark,  lone  figure  who  stood 
afar  off  from  the  street  within  her  door,  beckoning  me 
to  come  to  her.  She  could  not  venture  out,  for  she  was 
a  lone  widow,  and  childless — and  such  must  not  go  abroad. 
"But,"  as  she  said,  having  heard  of  me,  "she  had  been 
praying  Allah  every  day  to  direct  my  steps  to  her  desolate 
dwelling."  As  I  entered  her  humble  home,  she  fell  upon 
my  neck  and  wept, — telling  me  of  her  loneliness — a  rare 
circumstance  in  the  Mohammedan  world — for  she  •  was 
without  relatives.  But  happily  she  was  not  without  sup- 
port, as  are  so  many  friendless  Christian  women.  Her 
daily  allowance,  though  small,  was  sure.  The  anguish  of 
her  widowhood  was  all  the  keener  because  she  was  child- 
less— and  for  this  she  was  inconsolable.  In  going  away, 
Hamid,  my  dragoman  (who  had  stood  at  the  door  with 
his  face  outward)  said  to  me  in  a  comforting  way:  "Ah 
yes,  she  is  very  sad  now,  but  when  the  wailing  is  over, 
the  'wise  women'  will  find  her  a  good  husband  and,  per- 
haps, God  will  give  her  children  at  last,  for  her  great 
consolation, — certainly  nothing  could  be  better !" 

Another  most  interesting  visit  was  to  a  numerous  fam- 
ily presided  over  by  a  blind  grandmother  whose  occupa- 
tion was  the  grinding  of  wheat  between  two  millstones, 
the  scriptural  custom  of  4000  years  ago.  She  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  cluster  of  little  grandchildren  and  great- 
grandchildren, all  of  whom  vied  with  each  other  in  help- 
ing their  venerable  grandmother  who  seemed  perfectly 
happy.  In  entering  any  house,  though  chairs  are  not 


PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT.  I/I 

used,  it  was  marvelous  with  what  alacrity  a  high  seat  was 
improvised  for  me,  as  it  is  everywhere  known  that  Chris- 
tian ladies  do  not  sit  on  the  floor.  In  some  cases  where 
I  was  expected  a  chair  had  been  purchased  or  borrowed. 

The  Coptic  quarter  in  Assouan  is  perhaps  the  finest 
of  the  city,  for  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  material  prqs- 
perity  has  followed  Christianity  to  a  degree  almost  un- 
known among  Mussulmans.  But  alas !  the  money-getting 
spirit  tends  very  soon  to  the  lust  of  gold.  Mammon  is 
not  a  god  of  Islam. 

As  I  was  riding  through  this  quarter,  accompanied 
only  by  our  dragoman,  the  Coptic  merchants  saluted  me 
very  civilly  and  gave  me  a  pressing  invitation  to  dismount 
from  my  donkey  and  accept  refreshments.  It  is  habitual 
in  the  better  families  to  keep  open  hospitality  at  their  doors, 
and  outside  as  well  as  inside,  by  providing  broad  divans 
made  of  wicker,  whereon  friends  and  strangers  may  re- 
pose. I  seated  myself  in  their  midst  and  was  immediately 
served  with  coffee.  No  women  were  visible,  for  the  Cop- 
tic women,  though  Christian,  are  almost  as  shut-in  from 
the  outer  world  as  their  Moslem  sisters, — always  veiled 
when  out  of  doors,  and  wear  the  same  costume.  Only 
within  their  houses  may  they  see  strangers  unveiled,  and 
they  are  extremely,  even  painfully,  shy.  The  means  of 
instruction  is  sadly  lacking  among  them,  though  we  met 
some  who  were  well  educated,  intelligent,  and  interesting. 
The  Coptic  men  are  usually  educated  and  often  superior- 
minded. 

The  principal  attraction  at  Assouan  in  the  way  of  ruins 
or  monuments,  is  the  great  quarry  of  granite  from  whence 
were  cut  those  gigantic  obelisks  which,  by  spoliation  of 
Egypt,  adorn  the  cities  of  Europe  and  America, — and  in 
whose  climate  they  will  soon  crumble  into  ruin.  Paris, 
London,  New  York,  and  Rome,  have  a  great  debt  of  resti- 
tution to  make  to  Egypt,  to  history,  and  to  the  world.  I 


THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

hope  the  restitution  will  be  willingly  and  loyally  made  when 
the  time  comes — and  before  it  is  too  late. 

One  afternoon,  through  the  sand,  on  our  faithful  don- 
key, we  rode  to  visit  the  great  quarry,  accompanied  by 
our  good  Hamid,  and  an  escort  of  about  a  hundred — for 
we  were  obliged  to  let  them  follow  us, — reluctantly  at  first, 
not  understanding  the  honor  paid  us,  (what  stupid  people 
we  white  folks  are!)  by  that  troup  of  all  colors  and  ages, 
even  little  tots,  who  had  to  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of 
their  fathers,  elder  brothers,  or  neighbors.  These  pretty 
little  bambins  so  carried,  continually  sent  me  kisses  with 
their  little  dimpled  hands.  A  few  dark  young  girls  of 
unmarriageable  age  joined  in  the  procession,  and  both 
youths  and  old  men  vied  with  one  another  in  walking  next 
to  me  to  hold  my  donkey's  bridle  and  even  to  push  and  al- 
most carry  him  forward.  A  cluster  of  the  little  fellahs 
clung  to  his  tail.  No  one  asked  for  backsheesh.  They 
were  acting  as  became  body-guards  of  the  national  troops, 
with  full  appreciation  of  the  responsibility  of  hospitality, 
and  respect  for  the  lady  left  entirely  to  their  care.  For 
once  in  my  life,  I  was  rid  of  our  effete  civilization,  and 
simply  reveled  in  the  simplicity  of  natural  manners ! 

I  rode  out  far  over  the  rolling  waste  of  sand,  among 
the  rocks  of  granite,  which  come  to  the  surface  here, — 
stopping  often  to  rest  and  hold  conversation  with  my 
troops — I  told  them  that  they  could  each  ask  me  a  ques- 
tion upon  any  subject  they  liked,  and  I  would  answer  it. 
How  they  pressed  in  upon  us ! — the  dragoman,  donkey,  and 
myself — but  without  the  least  importunity — all  eager  to 
question  me.  And  what  do  you  think  was  the  burden  of 
their  inquiries?  It  was  big  rivers,  mountains,  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  soil,  harvests,  steam  engines,  canals,  the  an- 
imals of  different  countries,  snow,  soldiers,  steamboats, 
etc.,  and  almost  every  one  expressed  the  desire  to  go 
home  and  live  with  us,  forever  and  without  wages !  Not 


DONKEY-BOY  S  SIESTA. 


PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT. 

one  asked  me  where  they  could  best  earn  money, — and  not 
a  foolish  question  among  them  all.  But  what  astonished 
and  pleased  them  most  was  when  I  told  them  how  we  be- 
lieved and  prayed  to  the  same  God — to  their  Allah — and 
how,  therefore,  we  were  of  the  same  family.  Among  these 
people  of  the  desert,  the  nearest  to  nature,  as  well  as 
among  all  Mussulmans  of  higher  classes,  it  was  very  re- 
markable that  above  all  other  subjects,  religion  interested 
them  most, — though  they  seldom,  if  ever,  broached  the 
subject  first,  and  are,  therefore,  never  intrusive  nor  given 
to  discussion  and  less  to  any  attempt  of  proselyting.  I 
also  remarked  how  little  to  them  is  this  life — all  their  hope 
and  confidence  is  in  the  life  beyond.  Everywhere  I  found 
a  quick  and  intelligent  conscience  concerning  all  duties 
toward  God. — We  found  no  indifferent  believers  nor  in-  \ 
fidels  among  this  people. 

At  last  we  reached  the  quarry  and  stood  upon  the 
great  recumbent  obelisk,  three-quarters  cut  and  polished, 
and  fellow  to  the  one  which  stands  upon  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  in  Paris.  It  lies  obliquely  horizontal,  in  a  most 
difficult  position  for  cutting,  yet  those  ancient  mathema- 
ticians— compared  to  whom  we  are  but  pigmy  pupils- 
knew  measurements  of  geometry  and  trigonometry  as  well 
as  algebra  and  astronomy,  and  made  no  mistake  in  cutting 
or  transporting  these  gigantic  stones,  or  laying  them  one 
upon  the  other  with  the  precision  of  the  stars.  The  lifting 
of  heavy  stones  without  machinery  is  a  lost  art.  Some 
vandal  Christian  conquerors  (I  was  glad  it  was  not  Napo- 
leon, for  he  destroyed  enough  in  other  lands,  in  all  con- 
science!) have  tried  to  cut  this  recumbent  monarch  in 
twain,  but  failed  in  time  and  tools. 

In  spite  of  the  oblique  position  of  the  monster  mono- 
lith, one  can  sit  or  walk  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Being 
more  than  half  out  of  the  sand,  it  offered  me  a  solid  high 
platform  for  speaking  to  my  followers,  who  had  not  ceased 


174  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

to  beg  me,  through  the  dragoman,  to  "preach  more"  to 
them.  Standing  upon  the  great  half-cut  obelisk,  with  my 
dragoman  beside  me,  translating  sentence  by  sentence,  I 
opened  fire  against  theirs — the  little  fire  which  almost 
every  one  carried  in  his  mouth.  They  were  visibly  dis- 
concerted— for  these  simple  people  evidently  feel  that  by 
smoking  they  give  proof  of  their  participation  in  our  modes 
of  life — the  adoption  of  a  higher  culture,  modern  progress, 
etc.,  etc.  I  told  them  I  had  come  from  a  distant  country 
to  breathe  their  delicious  air,  that  I  might  be  strengthened 
and  cured,  and  then  I  asked  them  if  it  was  right  to  attempt 
to  change  the  designs  of  Allah,  to  which  all  protested. 
Then  I  explained  how  this  air,  which  Allah  made  so  pure, 
sweet,  and  healthful,  became  offensive  and  harmful,  not 
only  to  me,  but  to  many  others,  by  the  nauseating  fumes  of 
tobacco.  I  had  not  half  finished  my  opening  remarks 
before  every  cigarette  before  me  had  vanished.  Then  I 
cautioned  them  not  to  imitate  our  bad  habits  and  vices, 
particularly  of  drinking  strong  drinks,  but  to  reprove 
them,  and  keep  unswervingly  to  their  simplicity  of  life 
and  the  rectitude  of  true  believers.  They  were  enthu- 
siastic in  their  approbation,  and  when  I  had  finished,  the 
great  majority  pressed  around  me  and  declared  they  would 
smoke  no  more. 

I  hope  you  have  kept  your  promise,  my  good  fellahs! 
Perhaps  I  shall  go  and  see,  some  day.  . .  .1  know  you  will 
remember  me — and  I  shall  always  remember  you. 

After  many  supplications  to  come  to  them  again,  and 
my  promise,  that  if  God  willed  it,  I  should  do  so,  I  sent 
them  all  away; — but  they  were  reluctant  to  leave  me, 
and  it  was  only  when  Hamid  told  them  I  wanted  to  be 
alone  to  pray,  that  they  decided  to  go, — which  they  did 
at  once  with  religious  respect.  Then  I  told  my  dragoman 
to  go  also,  but  to  await  me  where  the  first  blades  of  grass 
begin  on  the  confines  of  the  desert.  He  was  more  reluc- 


PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT. 

tant  than  the  regular  troop — knowing  my  limited  strength 
—and  said  I  was  in  his  care  as  a  legal  dragoman,  and  his 
honor  was  at  stake !  But  when  I  told  him  that  I  was  in  the 
care  of  One  above  all  dragomen,  he  joined  the  retiring 
forces — but  with  a  sad  look  and  unwilling  gait. 

Then  I  went  out  into  the  desert  alone,  and  preached. 
My  audience  was  a  chosen  one — our  own  sons,  and  our 
own  people  in  the  great  cities  of  Europe  and  America ;  for 
they  have  far  more  need  of  simple,  divine  truth  than  these 
Moslems  of  the  desert !  I  cried  to  God  for  mercy  upon  us 
all; — and  I  wept  there  alone,  prone  on  the  senseless  sand 
of  the  great  desert,  and  in  bitterness  of  soul  for  the  sins 
of  Christians  who  in  their  hot  race  after  gold,  position,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  all  earthly  lust,  were  misleading  un- 
believers and  plunging  humanity  deeper  and  deeper  into 
perdition ! 

Long  I  lay  there  in  the  beautiful  sand,  my  soul  revel- 
ling in  the  soft  silence  and  communing  with  the  unseen 
world,  far  from  home,  from  every  land,  from  everybody— 
until  from  out  the  soundless  desert,  there  seemed  to  come 
a  voice  saying:  "Weep  and  pray!  weep  and  pray!"  And 
then  in  deeper  tone,  "but  also  believe  and  trust!  for  My 
mercy  endureth  forever !" 

Slowly,  all  unawares,  there  came  into  my  soul  a  great 
calm ; — then  I  felt  the  cool  breeze  of  nightfall  coming  upon 
me  in  benediction,  and  I  was  lifted  up,  as  with  strong  and 
tender  hands,  and  walked  on — and  on — ankle  deep  in  the 
yielding  sand — so  glad,  Oh !  so  glad  to  be  for  once  in  my 
life,  absolutely  alone  outside  of  all  human  sights  or  sounds 
—outside  of  civilization,  outside  of  everybody;  and  Oh, 
rarest  and  best  of  all — outside  of  myself! — my  poor  mis- 
erable human  self — my  soul  alone  with  the  Infinite.  .  .  . 

I  had  come  in  bitterness.  I  had  come  at  last — at  last! 
where  all  my  life  I  had  longed  to  be; — alone  with  God! — 
After  the  long  and  holy  communion,  I  arose.  And  I, 


176  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

who  was  so  weak,  now  felt  so  strong  that  it  seemed  to 
me  that  I  could  have  walked  straight  across  that  great 
stretch  of  sand  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  through  it,  as  did 
Israel  of  old,  and  up  through  the  wilderness  to  Sinai — to 
kiss  the  rock  from  which  the  Tables  of  the  Law  were 
taken ! 

Those  tables  of  stone  were  broken,  and  lost,  for  they 
were  the  Letter,  the  material,-  human,  stone  Letter;  but 
that  Law  which  governs  the  whole  civilized  world,  and 
will  govern  until  the  end  of  time,  will  not  perish,  for  it  is 
the  Spirit  of  God!  And  this  half-buried  obelisk,  and  all 
this  precious  quarry  of  granite,  may  be  covered  up  and 
forgotten  in  the  accumulating  sands  of  the  desert ;  but  the 
Idea  of  a  Personal  and  Living  God,  which  was  first  re- 
vealed to  the  human  mind  here  in  Egypt,  and  to  whom 
those  gigantic  works  of  man  in  erected  stone,  pointing 
upward,  first  indicated — will  remain  with  that  Spirit- 
forever  ! 

Thus  I  pondered  and  wandered  through  the  great 
solemn  desert.  . .  . 

Anon,  by  my  lengthened  shadow,  into  which  I  was 
walking,  I  knew  the  day  was  waning,  and  I  must  turn 
back.  I  had  told  Hamid  that  if  he  did  not  see  me  return- 
ing half  an  hour  after  the  sun  had  set,  he  might  come  to 
seek  me,  for  then  I  should  be  lost, — which  I  was  half  de- 
sirous of  being  and  spending  the  night  alone  upon  the 
desert  waste  beneath  the  stars: — a  whole  sleepless  night- 
long of  contemplation  with  the  unpeopled  earth,  and  the 
peopled  stars !  Ah !  that  would  indeed  be  worth  the  wait- 
ing and  longing  for  all  these  years — and  the  coming  to 
Egypt!  But  the  thought  of  the  dear,  anxious  heart  and 
the  despair  of  my  faithful  dragoman  who  had  said  all  he 
dared  to,  to  dissuade  me  from  thus  going  off  alone,  pre- 
vented me. 

As  the  sun's  great  disk  dropped  slowly  down  through 


PREACHING  IN  THE  DESERT.  177 

the  golden  atmosphere  and  touched  the  horizon,  I  was 
seized  with  an  indescribable,  but  ecstatic  awe  which  made 
me  tremble  in  every  limb.  The  twilight  is  short  in  this 
tropical  latitude, — and  soon,  from  out  the  deep  blue  firma- 
meflt,  the  stars  burst  forth  in  such  suddenness  and  splen- 
dor that  it  already  seemed  midnight!  And  now  as  I 
mounted  a  huge  wave  of  sand,  the  evening  breeze  which 
rises  from  off  the  Nile  at  sunset,  came  to  me  in  such  grate- 
ful suggestion,  that  I  felt  the  beating  wings  of  those  very 
angels  who  bore  my  glorious  Patron,  Saint  Catherine  of 
Alexandria,  when  she  was  broken  and  dead,  across  the 
desert,  and  across  the  sea,  up  to  Mount  Sinai !  So  exalted 
was  my  soul,  that  my  feet  had  long  since  ceased  to  move, 
and  I  stood  still, — or  rather  I  was  upheld — for  my  own 
volition  had  vanished — but  the  angels — her  angels — were 
keeping  me  company.  .  .  . 

How  long  it  was  I  know  not, — but  they  found  me — 
Hamid  and  the  scouring  troop — as  I  knew  they  would,— 
and  once  on  the  back  of  the  faithful  donkey,  who  made  me 
glad  salaams  with  his  long  silken  ears,  we  went  back 
slowly  across  the  sand, — slowly  through  the  shadowy 
night-fall,  to  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  'and  into  the  silent 
city, — and  I  happier  for  the  rest  of  my  life, — leaving  the 
soundless  desert  to  the  stars  and  to  Eternity — which  will 
be  richer  and  grander  for  this  Holy  Communion  with 
God  on  the  earth.  .  .  . 

But  if  it  be  possible,  as  the  legend  of  Saint  Catherine 
tells,  I  pray  Her  Angels  to  carry  me  when  I  die,  over  that 
waste  of  sand  at  night-fall,  when  the  stars  are  coming  out ; 
—over  that  spot  where  I  prayed  in  the  desert  alone.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  XX. 

PHILAE. SHOOTING  THE   CATARACT. DOWN   THE   NILE.— 

LUXOR. KARNAK. 

WE  are  at  the  first  cataract,  and  at  the  farthest  point 
of  our  journey  in  Africa.  Now  you  must  come 
with  us,  kind  reader,  to  Philse,  and  loiter  among  its  beauti- 
ful temples, — wander  among  its  long  rows  of  columns 
and  pylons  covered  with  gigantic  figures  and  hieroglyphics 
in  intaglio;  and  visit  the  chamber  where  Isis  gave  birth 
to  Horus,  and  then  ( such  is  human  nature  still .....')  go 
and  lunch  with  us  in  the  exquisite  temple  called  the  Bed 
of  Pharaoh,  and  help  me — no !  I  prefer  to  do  it  alone, — as 
there  is  an  immeasurable  and  intimate  personal  satisfac- 
tion in  it: — see  me  break  into  a  thousand  pieces  (and  there 
is  immense  consolation  in  numbers .  .  .  . )  the  bottles  of 
wine  which  a  fool  of  a  traveller,  not  of  our  party,  gave  to 
the  native  guides ! 

Philse  is  a  short  hour's  ride  on  the  miniature  railway 
from  Assouan:  600  miles  above  Cairo.  We  spent  the 
whole  day  among  its  beautiful  ruins  and  then,  just  as 
the  downward  sun  began  to  gild  the  waves,  the  rocks  and 
the  backs  of  the  plunging  natives, — we  shot  the  cataract! 

We  were  five  passengers  and  twelve  boatmen.  The 
pushing  off  was  quiet  and  the  entrance  into  the  current 
calm.  Then,  with  holden  breath,  we  plunged  into  the 
whirling  tide  among  the  rocks,  and  then  sped  into  a 
smoother  sea,  joining  in  the  refrain  of  the  Moslem  boat- 


PHILAE. DOWN   TNE   NILE.  1 79 

men,  who  could  not  make  the  boat  plunge  and  leap  from 
crest  to  crest  of  the  whirling  waves  without  calling  upon 
Allah  for  help.  And  this  is  the  refrain  they  chanted  in 
their  low  monotone  Arabic  rhythm,  as  they  neared  the 
rapids : 

"Allah!  Allah!  make  our  arms  strong, 
Allah!  Allah!  make  our  arms  strong, 
Allah!  Allah!  make  our  arms  strong, 
And  prepare  us  for  this  perilous  leap!" 

Then  when  we  plunged  into  the  whirlpools,  the  refrain 
changed,  and  with  a  deeper  accent  they  all  sang  forth  anew 
—keeping  their  eyes  on  the  great  boulders,  threatening 
rocks,  and  menacing  waves: 

"Allah !  Allah !  now  we  are  in  the  midst  of  danger, 
Guide  us  and  help  us,  or  we  are  lost !  O  Allah !  Allah !" 

Not  a  word  was  spoken,  save  the  refrain,  growing 
deeper  and  deeper  from  out  their  heaving  breasts  and  con- 
vulsive lips,  as  they  bent  with  bare  knotted  backs,  legs  and 
arms  to  their  perilous  duty.  The  captain  was  a  youth  of 
only  eighteen,  but  being  the  son  of  the  most  skilled  boat- 
man of  the  Rapids,  he  inspired  the  confidence  of  all.  So 
intense  was  his  attention  that  he  could  only  join  in  the 
closing  and  the  opening  words  of  the  refrain,  and  with  him 
we  all  joined,  and  in  prayerful  sincerity, — "Allah! — Al- 
lah!"— for  all  felt  the  peril,  as  well  as  the  solemnity  of 
the  moment  and  the  grandeur  of  the  circumstance.  Then, 
when  at  last  the  heavy  boat  began  to  right  herself  and 
the  water  began  to  cease  its  perilous  whirl  and  fall  into 
smoother,  yet  swifter  current,  the  voices  lapsed  into  a 
slower  and  softer  refrain,  and  ran  thus: 

"Allah !  Allah !  to  Thee  who  has  brought  us  out  of 

great  peril 

We  render  grateful  thanks— 
O  Allah!  Allah!" 


ISO  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

We  gave  the  boatmen  oranges  and  fruit  to  refresh 
them  after  their  arduous  pull,  and  they  thanked  us  very 
kindly  but  put  all  aside  untasted,  for  they  were  keeping 
a  fast.  Our  admiration  far  exceeds  our  pity.  Men  of 
toil  and  meagre  fare,  who  have  such  control  over  their 
appetites,  are  superior  men,  however  humble  their  station 
may  be. 

And  between  our  admiration  of  God's  work  in  rocks, 
and  rivers,  and  earth,  and  sky, — and  His  Grace  in  the 
hearts  of  men  who  keep  His  commandments,  we  give  Him 
greater  thanks  for  this  latter  and  diviner  mystery. 

Down  the  Nile — Luxor. 

The  next  day  we  betook  ourselves  to  the  fine  new 
steamer,  the  "Cleopatra,"  and  started  down  the  Nile,— 
heart-sick  at  leaving  Assouan  and  the  great  disputed  and 
mysterious  regions  of  Africa  behind  us. 

We  had  been  tempted  to  go  farther,  at  least  to  the 
second  cataract,  but  rumors  of  advancing  dervishes  had 
brought  fear,  and  Cook's  Company  refused  to  take  trav- 
ellers any  higher  up.  In  a  few  years  hence  we  shall  have 
a  direct  route — a  line  of  travel — from  Paris  to  the  great 
Ethiopian  capital — if  other  Christian  sovereigns  do  their 
duty  as  does  the  great  Coptic  Emperor,  Menelik. — May 
Heaven  bless  him! 

Our  going  down  to  the  boat  was  something  of  a  fu- 
neral procession.  The  Governor,  many  Moslems,  Copts, 
and  other  Christians  came  to  see  us  off. 

Good-bye,  Upper  Egypt ! 

Long  we  sighted  Assouan  seated  on  her  high  bank, 
and  lighted  up  by  the  golden  afternoon  sun,  as  the  fast- 
flowing  river  bore  us  downward — inward,  into  the  lower 
world. 


PHILAE. DOWN   THE  NILE.  l8l 


Note  from  Pcrc  Hyacinthc's  Journal. 

ist  February,   1896. 

"We  leave  Assouan  with  heavy  hearts.  Emilie  has  had  a  veritable  propa- 
ganda— nothing  sectarian,  but  religious.  She  preached  among  these  people, 
who  grouped  around  her  everywhere,  in  the  bazars,  in  the  houses,  in  the 
streets,  and  out  in  the  desert.  The  women  riot  only  welcomed  her,  but  drew 
her  into  their  houses.  All  these  people  are  docile  and  good,  and  any  one 
who  would  come  among  them  in  the  same  spirit  with  which  my  dear  wife- is 
actuated,  would  accomplish  a  marvelous  work. 

"I  greatly  regret  not  being  able  to  penetrate  farther  into  the  heart-  of 
Africa.  I  could  easily  fix  my  dwelling-place  here  were  it  not  for  the  furnace 
heat  in  the  summer.  I  am  tired  of  the  false  civilization  of  Europe.  A  large 
part  of  the  belongings  of  our  civilization  might  be  destroyed  without  the 
least  detriment  to  us — but  rather  a  profit.  Let  each  one  destroy,  or  at  least 
cease  to  make  use  of  our  detrimental  superfluities !" 

A  voyage  on  the  Nile  is  perhaps  the  most  agreeable 
in  the  wide  world;  but  there  are  some  people  who  do  not, 
cannot  enjoy,  nor  appreciate  it.  And  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  it  is  not  the  best  "outing"  for  a  business  man, 
who  has  little  taste  for  quiet  and  meditation.  A  walking 
trip,  with  mountains  to  climb,  were  better  for  him. 

But  what  numberless  lessons,  and  often  sad  ones, 
does  a  voyage  reveal  in  this  long  and  close  companion- 
ship on  ship-board!  I  shall  never  forget  one  poor  little, 
dying  wife  who  had  been  brought  here  to  be  cured  of 
heart-break;  —  they  called  it  consumption,  —  and  who 
only  consented  to  come  with  the  hope  of  curing  her  hus- 
band of  his  consumption  of  alcohol,  by  getting  him 
away  from  the  temptation  of  the  great  cities  and  hotel 
life.  But  alas!  she  found  the  facilities  for  gratifying 
the  direful  lust  far  greater  on  the  steamer  than  on  land; 
for  here  the  alcoholic  victim  is  shut  in  with  the  demon! 
One  day  as  this  repulsive  victim  rolled  out  of  his  cabin, 
where  he  had  slept  the  wrhole  afternoon,  calling  from  time 
to  time  to  the  steward  for  "something  to  drink" — and 
then  ridiculing  the  man  with  coarse  and  profane  words 
because  he,  being  a  Mussulman,  declined  the  invitation  to 


1 82  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

drink  with  him.  His  wife,  who  had  unbosomed  her  sor- 
row to  me,  said  one  day  as  we  were  looking  at  an  ancient 
tomb  in  the  rocks  of  the  near  shore:  "Oh,  how  I  wish  I 
were  only  in  there, — and  that  the  Nile  would  come  in  and 
cover  me  up  forever !" 

Opposite  this  American  couple  at  the  table,  sat  another 
couple  who  bore  a  noble  English  name.  The  husband  was 
very  pale  and  haggard,  the  wife  was  red  and  full  of  health. 
She  drank  frequent  and  long  draughts  from  a  bottle  which 
bore  upon  its  label  "Old  Scotch  Whiskey."  That  told  the 
sad  story,  which  was  already  surmised  by  the  passengers — 
the  saddest,  perhaps,  of  all  domestic  tales :  He,  poor  man, 
drank  milk — and  gall.  .  .All  pitied  him,  and  were  ashamed 
of  her.  Yet  she  was,  as  she  averred,  "a  good  church- 
woman,"  and  was  quite  put  out  because,  on  Sunday,  we 
did  not  have  the  "regular"  English  service,  saying  a'nd 
reiterating,  forward,  aft,  and  amidships,  that  "we  had  lost 
a  splendid  occasion  of  setting  a  good  example — not  only 
to  the  freethinkers  travelling,  but  also  to  the  poor  be- 
nighted Mussulmans  in  attendance, — for"  (as  she  truly 
said)  "though  they  cannot  understand  our  language,  they 
can  see  and  learn  by  example!" 

We  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  a  sincere  wish 
that  Messrs.  Cook  and  Son  will,  at  no  distant  day,  banish 
from  their  truly  great  enterprise  all  traffic  in  alcoholic 
drinks ; — allowing  good  and  pure  wine  only  on  their  boats. 

At  Luxor  again ! — And  there  is  Achmed  on  the  landing 
with  all  our  carriers  about  him,  their  dark  faces  radiant 
with  joy. 

We  visited  the  great  temple  and  the  market ;  and,  much 
as  I  like  these  grand  old  ruins,  I  confess  that  I  took  more 
interest  in  the  people. — What  a  world  between  the  then 
and  now.  Yet  this  native  race  is  but  little  modified  by  the 
long  centuries — and  human  nature  remains  about  the 
same.  As  we  went  through  the  strange  market  and  saw 


PHILAE. DOWN  THE  NILE.  183 

the  various  grains  and  fruits,  poured  out  upon  the  ground 
—no  sacks,  bins,  nor  baskets, — we  thought  of  the  well- 
stored  corn  of  Pharaoh's  enterprising  steward.  The  Jews 
always  knew  how  to  work;  and  labor  is  a  preservative  of 
the  individual,  of  nations,  and  races.  What  struck  me 
most  perhaps  in  their  implements  was  their  loom : — a  few 
sticks  stuck  in  the  ground — a  lot  of  strings  and  a  shuttle, 
the  weaver  sitting  on  the  earth,  using  toes  as  well  as 
fingers  to  make  the  woolen  and  cotton  stuffs.  I  found 
here  a  most  curious  advance  upon  us :  they  do  their  mend- 
ing by  weaving  with  their  looms, — making  old,  ragged, 
worn-out  shawls  and  other  stuffs  "a'most  as  good  as  new/' 
—Donkeys,  camels,  and  babies  were  all  mixed  up  in  kindly 
relationship,  never  disputing  or  quarrelling.  The  grave 
sheiks  moved  about  as  fathers  among  their  children,  and 
are  known  by  their  superior  dress.  Occasionally  we  see 
a  green  turban,  which  indicates  that  the  wearer  is  a  des- 
cendant of  the  Prophet,  or  has  made  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca — and  thus  becomes  a  Hadj. 

Our  dragoman  took  me  to  visit  his  wife  and  see  his 
house  which  he  had  built  himself:  a  "modern  house"  as 
he  said.  The  English  clergyman  had  advanced  money  to 
help  him  complete  it,  which  money  he  was  now  working 
hard  to  pay  back.  Achmed  is  a  young  man  of  twenty-five, 
and  is  not  only  a  most  conscientious  and  excellent  drago- 
man, but  is  a  growing  citizen.  He  speaks  English  and 
attends  the  English  church,  though  a  faithful  Moslem. 
This  is  indeed  one  of  the  most  un-Christian  traits  of  Mo- 
hammedans— that  they  have  no  prejudice  against  people 
because  of  their  religion.  They  frequently  attend  other 
places  of  worship,  and  have  friendly  intercourse  with  other 
believers  than  their  own,  and  profound  respect  for  all  re- 
ligions. In  fact,  they  give  to  all  what  they  demand  for 
themselves:  absolute  liberty  of  religious  opinion  and  free- 
dom in  worship.  There  is  no  rivalry  between  them  and 


184  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

other  believers,  because  there  is  no  competition — they  be- 
ing perfectly  convinced  of  the  absolute  superiority  of  their 
religion,  with  which  they  are  perfectly  content.  To  judge 
by  the  examples  they  see  of  Christian  conduct — or  rather 
misconduct — it  would  not  be  surprising  nor,  perhaps, 
blameworthy  if  they  entertained  some  prejudice  against 
the  Christian  faith  as  they  too  often  find  it  practised. 

I  made  a  long  visit  to  Achmed's  wife  and  mother ;  and 
after  giving  much  advice  to  the  women,  he  thanked  me 
most  warmly,  for  he  felt,  as  Moslems  generally  do,  the 
need  of  some  degree  of  culture  for  their  women.  Then  he 
said  earnestly :  "Now  tell  me  wrhat  to  do,  and  I  will  do  it !" 
So  I  advised  him  to  add  something  to  the  comfort  of  his 
home,  and  also  to  its  beauty,  as  decoration  of  edifices  is 
among  the  lost  arts  with  the  feleen.  First  of  all  I  told  him 
to  whitewash  his  dun,  desert  -  colored  walls.  Mosques 
alone  are  conscientiously  whitewashed  every  year.  Un- 
like the  feleen,  the  Arabs,  with  whom  remains  something 
of  their  ancient  civilization,  have  scrupulously  white  walls, 
as  with  them,  cleanliness  is  a  part  of  godliness.  Then  I 
showed  my  man  how  to  put  up  shelves  instead  of  cords 
for  his  clothing  and  bedding, — though  as  he  quietly  re- 
marked, "the  cords  are  better  for  airing/'  which  is  a  cap- 
ital point  with  all  these  people,  whose  bedding  and  carpets 
are  scrupulously  clean.  I  explained  that  he  could  use  both, 
giving  a  good  airing  on  the  terrace  in  the  morning,  and 
putting  all  things  well  folded  up  on  the  shelves  in  the 
afternoon, — all  of  which  he  explained  to  his  wife,  and  she 
to  the  other  women  of  the  family  and  to  the  neighbors  who 
had  quietly  dropped  in.  Housekeeping  with  them  is 
neither  a  fine  art  nor  a  science— only  a  necessity,  and  is 
done  principally  by  the  men.  I  expatiated  at  length  upon  the 
health,  beauty,  and  tidiness  of  our  American  homes  even 
among  the  humblest,  insisting  upon  the  necessity  of  women 
doing  their  part  of  the  housework,  thus  striking  a  mean 


PHILAE. DOWN  THE  NILE.  185 

level  between  them  who  do  little  and  the  poor  American 
wife  who  does  all.  Of  course  I  here  brought  in  the  model 
French  husband,  who,  in  case  of  necessity,  knows  how  to 
make  a  pot-au-feu,  a  ragout,  or  roti,  as  well  as  cafe-au-lait. 
I  kept  silence,  however,  as  becoming  a  Christian,  concern- 
ing those  other  lands  which  are  neither  French,  English, 
nor  American,  where  the  "level"  is  so  mean  that  women 
are  harnessed  with  dogs,  donkeys,  and  cows — as  beasts 
of  burden;  while  (and  now  I  beg  indulgence  because  of 
righteous  wrrath!)  while  their  "beastly"  husbands  (here 
I  use  good  English .  . .  . )  spend  their  time  and  money  in 
smoke  and  drink :  pipes  and  beer .... 

Then  Achmed  showed  me  with  pride  his  library,  "for," 
he  said,  "I  am  determined  to  learn  all  the  languages."  It 
consisted  of  half  a  dozen  books,  which  were  mostly  Eng- 
lish guide  books, — one  French,  some  pamphlets,  and  a 
Bible.  Though  he  was  a  staunch  Moslem,  unlettered  and 
unlearned,  he,  more  than  most  Christian  theologians, 
quite  understood  the  unity  of  Divine  Truth  between  the 
Bible  and  the  Koran, — and  above  all  the  unity  of  love  and 
charity  between  men. 

After  this  befitting  digression,  I  will  continue  my  jour- 
ney by  saying  that  a  short  time  after  our  return  to  France 
I  received  a  well-written  English  letter  from  our  good 
dragoman  at  Luxor,  informing  me  that  his  house  was 
"washed  white"  as  I  had  advised,  and  that  he  would  plant 
the  promised  trees  and  flowers  as  soon  as  he  could;  and 
moreover,  his  neighbors  were  following  his  example.  Then 
the  climax  of  all  this  good  news  was — what  he  said  he 
knew  would  rejoice  my  heart — and  it  did; — a  son  was 
born  to  him ! 

Upon  our  return  to  Cairo,  Nubar  Pasha  said  to  me 
one  day:  "''I  am  sure  if  you  had  your  own  desire  you  would 
take  a  whole  cargo  of  Bibles,  and  scatter  them  along  the 


l86  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Nile — only  you  must  remember  none  of  the  people  could 
read  them !" 

I  replied:  "Yes,  I  would  take  the  Bibles,  but  as  most 
of  the  people  know  their  Koran — which  is  their  Bible— 
by  heart, — I  would  first  take  several  cargoes  of  quicklime 
and  brushes,  then  a  cargo  of  schoolmasters  and  mistresses 
to  teach  the  people  to  read  before  sending  to  Beyrout  or 
Oxford  for  the  Arab  Bibles.  Thus  I  would  do  what  Your 
Excellency,  during  your  government  of  Egypt,  for  forty 
years,  never  thought  of  doing — nor  have  your  successors !" 
The  great  Prime  Minister  was  not  offended;  but,  lifting 
his  fez  a  moment,  as  if  to  cool  his  prodigious  head,  replied, 
in  his  serious,  thoughtful  way:  "Ah!  that's  an  American 
way  of  doing  missionary  work — and  it  is  a  good  one — Yes, 
whitewash  would  be  a  good  beginning." 

Karnak. 

We  stopped  at  Karnak  for  several  days  on  our  return 
voyage,  that  we  might  have  a  daylight  visit  to  these  grand- 
est ruins  on  the  Nile.  Monsieur  George  Legrain,  the  dis- 
tinguished French  explorer  and  inspector  of  Egyptian  An- 
tiquities, invited  us  to  spend  a  day  with  him  at  the  ruins, 
to  which  he  wished  to  be  our  guide.  We  found  him  com- 
fortably settled  in  a  nice  little  house  of  his  own  building, 
in  the  shadow  of  the  great  temple;  and  a  charming  place 
it  was — such  a  "compound''  of  Egyptian  and  French  art 
and  sicence, — which  obtained  even  in  the  cuisine  by  his 
fellah  cook,  who  gave  us  a  most  excellent  dejeuner  a  la 
Frangaise  with  a  far-away  flavor  of  Pharaoh's  table 

Monsieur  Legrain  has  the  defect  of  being  a  bachelor, 
but  usually  invites  a  compatriot, — artist,  archaeologist,  or 
historian,  to  share  his  table.  During  our  visit  a  circum- 
stance occurred  which  capped  the  climax  of  an  eventful 
day. — Over  our  fragrant  cup  of  Mokka,  and  while  he  was 


PHILAE. DOWN  r.  NILE.  A^  ,..        c 

'^IF( 

recounting  how,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  he  was  born 
on  the  very  day  of  the  last  great  earthquake,  which  brought 
such  a  destruction  to  the  temple  of  Karnak;  as  if,  as  he 
said,  he  were  "sent  into  the  world  providentially  at  the 
very  moment  of  the  disaster  to  repair  its  ruins";  and  we 
said  "to  lead  to  further  discoveries"; — his  chief  overseer 
of  excavations, — a.  devoted  and  intelligent  fellah,— sud- 
denly appeared  in  our  midst,  bringing  the  good  news  that 
that  very  hour  the  two  long-sought  altars  of  the  two  rival 
deities,  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  had  been  unearthed ! 
The  unfeigned  joy  of  all  can  be  imagined — and  the  ex- 
plorer cried  out,  turning  to  us  and  clasping  our  hands: 
"Oh,  it  is  you!  You  have  brought  to-day  an  immense 
blessing  to  Karnak!"  We  certainly  participated  in  his 
great  satisfaction. 

Through  the  long  delicious  hours  of  that  memorable 
day  we  wandered  and  pondered  among  the  majestic  tem- 
ples— sublimer,  perhaps,  in  their  ruin  than  in  their  perfec- 
tion. But  I  shall  not  belittle  them,  nor  myself,  by  any  at- 
tempt at  their  description.  I  will  only  mention  a  recent 
and  marvelous  discovery  of  Monsieur  Legrain — the  bas- 
relief  of  Isis  nursing  Horus,  her  infant  king,  whose  ex- 
quisite beauty  and  delicacy  reminds  us  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child  of  Raphael — and  would  do  him  honor, — had  he 
ever  dreamed  in  stone. 

But  verily  the  gods  lent  hands  as  well  as  inspiration 
to  the  Pharaohs.  And  how  like  pygmies  are  we,  the  gapers 
of  to-day — the  lookers-on  of  these  stupendous  achieve- 
ments of  the  giants — five  thousand  years  away! — And 
though  we  have  lost  the  art  of  building  Titanic  temples, 
we  have  learned  after  this  long  lapse  of  time  to  wonder  at 
and  appreciate  them.  Our  day  in  this  the  grandest  tem- 
ple of  Thebes  will  ever  remain  fixed  among  our  happiest 
days  in  this  wondrous  land; — but  our  midnight  visit  to 
Karnak  will  remain  the  most  memorable  of  all. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THEBES. THE  TOMBS  OF  THE  KINGS. THE  COLOSSI. 

IN  the  early,  cool  morning,  before  the  long  rays  of  the 
rising  sun  had  glinted  the  Nile,  we  started  for  the 
Mysterious  City,  hidden  among  the  Libyan  hills: — the 
city  of  the  great  dead : — the  tombs  of  the  Egyptian  kings, 
— those  mighty  monarchs  of  the  greatest  empire  of  the 
then  known  world, — who  dwelt  in  this  proud  and  magnifi- 
cent capital  of  Egypt — the  metropolis  of  the  world — The- 
bes. 

In  the  centuries  of  its  grandeur,  its  bounderies  included 
Luxor  and  Karnak ; — indeed  the  horizon  with  the  Arabian 
mountains  in  the  east,  and  the  Libyan  mountains  in  the 
West,  marked  its  circumference, — the  great  mystic  river 
flowing  between.  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  Homer,  Strabo, 
and  hundreds,  thousands  of  other  competent  travellers 
and  historians,  have  written  of  its  power  and  magnificence. 
It  is,  therefore,  becoming  that  I  say  but  little. 

Monsieur  Edouard  Naville  of  Geneva,  the  distin- 
guished director  of  the  Egyptian  Exploration  Company, 
who  is  excavating  the  finest  works  yet  unearthed  in  this 
pregnant  soil,  marked  out  our  route  and  expected  us  for 
an  afternoon  tea  amid  the  ruins  of  Deir-el-Bahari. 

We  were  eager  for  the  great  day  before  us.  Achmed 
was  early  at  the  door  to  make  preparations,  and  when  we 
went  down  to  the  court,  there  they  stood  in  double  line: 
my  faithful  carriers  of  Karnak,  all  with  smiling  faces  and 


THEBES. TOMBS  OF  KINGS. THE   COLOSSI.  189 

reiterated  salaams— twelve  of  them — with  donkey-boys; 
— Achmed  the  Generalissimo. 

Off  we  were  with  exhilarating  alacrity — down  the 
loamy  bank  to  the  Nile  and  over  its  dark  rapid  waters  in 
a  barge,  up  the  opposite  side  and  across  that  wide  fertile 
plain,  rich  with  its  spring  verdure; — my  husband  on  a 
donkey,  I  in  a  chaise-d-porteurs  on  the  shoulders  of -the 
stalwart  natives. 

Soon  the  low  straight  rays  of  the  ardent  sun  dispelled 
the  lurking  sheen  in  the  soft  atmosphere ;  and  the  day  boded 
fair.  In  passing  the  ruins  of  a  temple  we  were  so  beset 
with  venders  and  beggars,  that  it  needed  all  Achmed's 
authority,  with  menacing  gyrations  of  his  cudgel-like  cane 
(which,  however,  never  fell)  to  protect  us.  And  here  it 
was  that  I  made  a  purchase  from  a  late  rifled  tomb — an 
account  of  which  I  afterwards  gave  in  a  letter  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Archaeological  Society  of  Egypt.  (See  chap- 
ter on  Alexandria.) 

We  rode  along  the  great  canal  which  is  being  dug  here, 
and  observed  with  interest  and  wonder  the  hundreds  of 
natives  at  work — carrying  the  earth  up  the  steep  banks 
in  baskets  on  their  heads — most  of  them  naked,  save  a 
shed  of  loin  cloth.  Scarcely  an  eye  was  raised  to  us,  (for 
religion  makes  these  naked  fellahs  polite  gentlemen),  yet 
some  caught  and  answered  our  encouraging  salutations. 
The  canal  looked  like  an  immense  furrow  through  a  gigan- 
tic ant-hill.  This  was  the  corvee  at  work ; — but  how  unlike 
those  of  horrid  memory  where  the  were  pressed  into  hard 
labor  without  pay  and  without  food !  Now  they  are  well 
treated  and  have  half  a  franc  (ten  cents)  a  day — enough 
for  them  and  their  families  to  live  upon.  They  are  happy. 

On  we  went — my  carriers  changing  every  five  minutes 
without  checking  their  sprightly  gait  or  their  low  chant, 
in  which  I  joined  in  spite  of  all  attempts  at  silence.  It 
helped  them  on,  lessened  my  weight,  and  lightened  my 


I9O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

conscience — and,  what  was  also  strange,  it  seemed  to  cure 
my  sore  throat  from  which  I  was  suffering.  There  was 
exhilaration  in  the  air,  earth,  and  sky,  which  penetrated 
minds  and  bodies. 

At  last  we  left  the  luxuriant  herb-land  and  approached 
the  grey  barren  hills, — and  finally,  after  a  three  hours' 
ride,  we  entered  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings. 

Valley  of  Desolation!  Nothing  but  arid,  ashen  hills 
of  rock  on  either  side  of  a  sinuous  path  of  sand,  shale,  and 
pebbles,  which  led  to  the  hidden  city  of  the  imperial  mum- 
mies. Not  a  trace  of  man,  bird,  beast,  or  insect :  Nothing 
of  the  present,  and  nothing  of  the  past.  Yet  through  that 
valley  and  down  the  centuries  of  death,  and  into  this  Home 
of  the  Awful  and  Eternal  Silence,  passed  the  sumptuous 
funeral  pageants  of  the  Pharaohs ! — marching — marching 
with  steady,  stately  tread,  into  the  inevitable  Regions  of 
Oblivion ! 

We  were  encompassed  by  a  palpable  and  ominous  pres- 
age of  woe.  Nothing  but  the  ponderous  silence  compressed 
between  the  grey  encroaching  hills.  The  blue  sky  grew 
strange,  hard,  and  forbidding, — like  the  leaden  cover  of 
a  granite  sarcophagus.  The  heat  was  oppressive;  and 
our  exhilarated  spirits  flagged  on  heavy  wings.  After 
an  hour's  ride  in  this  forlorn  valley — asking  ourselves 
over  and  over  again,  if  it  were  indeed  possible  to  find  any 
trace  of  human  beings  within  this  lost  and  desolate  waste, 
—at  last,  Achmed,  who  had  long  since  ceased  to  speak- 
as  the  carriers  had  ceased  to  chant — but  who  had  kept  close 
beside  me, — pointed  to  a  small  opening  in  the  face  of  the 
mountain; — an  opening  as  if  some  unskilled  laborer  had 
made  a  niche  in  the  rock  wherein  to  hide  his  tools.  Then 
he  said,  with  bated  breath:  "Here  we  are!" 

Still  riding  on,  scarcely  able  to  breathe  the  hot  stifling 
air,  we  discovered  other  cavernous  openings  or  unpre- 
tending doors  in  the  rock.  We  felt  a  strange  cerebral  op- 


THEBES. TOMBS  OF  KINGS. THE  COLOSSI. 

pression  and  all  seemed  unreal,  and  I  began  to  long  to 
creep  into  somebody's — anybody's  tomb — out  of  the  burn- 
ing heat !  At  length  we  came  to  a  large  door,  arched  in 
solid  masonry,  and  shut  in  with  heavy  iron  grating.  It 
was  the  entrance  to  the  principal  tomb :  that  of  Seti  I. 

Most  grateful  was  that  shadow  in  the  entrance  of  this 
most  royal  of  all  tombs.  Leaving  our  faithful  carriers 
to  rest  and  eat  their  luncheon,  we  did  the  same. 

Though  I  almost  counted  myself  among  the  dead  after 
that  long  ride  and  intense  heat,  I  was  convinced  of  being- 
still  in  human  existence  by  a  most  painful  thirst ;  and  never 
was  I  so  grateful  as  for  the  delicious  water  brought  by 
little  children  and  old  men  all  the  way  from  the  Nile  in 
small  earthen  bottles,  wrapt  in  woolen  cloth,  to  keep  them 
cool,  and  sold  for  a  few  farthings.  With  renewed  strength 
and  an  hour's  rest,  with  lighted  torches,  we  entered  the 
tomb.  When  once  within  the  broad,  high  arched  en- 
trance at  the  mouth  of  the  cavernous  corridor,  cut  in  the 
solid  stone,  leading  down  an  inclined  plane — we  were 
seized  with  the  formidable  impression  that  we  were  dis- 
appearing from  the  visible  world, — and  descending,  though 
alive,  into  the  regions  of  Death.  But  this  first  impression 
was  not  to  be  compared  to  what  followed  as  we  went  on, 
from  immense  chambers  to  broad,  endless  corridors,  some 
level  and  others  descending;  all  hewn  in  the  living  rock. 

On  the  walls  were  innumerable  carved  and  painted 
symbols  of  ancient  Egyptian  worship,  with  forms  and  fig- 
ures of  deities,  which,  in  the  lurid  flickering  light  of  our 
torches,  became  living  beings  of  another  world.  An  awful 
silence  fell  upon  us  as  we  ventured  further  on  into  the 
dark  dungeons  of  Death.  And  now  the  air  had  become 
so  oppressive,  I  could  scarcely  breathe.  My  feet  began  to 
fail  me,  and  soon  refused  to  move — I  could  go  no  farther. 
I  begged  to  be  left  alone  while  the  others  continued  the 
exploration.  Reluctantly  this  request  was  accorded  me— 


192  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

a  taper  being  placed  in  my  hand  with  injunctions  not  to 
move  until  my  companions  returned. — Slowly  they  dis- 
appeared down  the  inclined  corridor — whose  high  vault 
was  lost  in  the  lugubrious  darkness — a  ghostly  procession 
going  down  into  the  regions  of  Oblivion.  Soon  a  mortal 
terror  seized  me  and  I  repented  having  asked  to  be  left 
alone.  It  was  too  late.  I  would  have  called  out  but  I 
had  become  speechless :  tongue  and  lips  refused  to  articu- 
late. I  was  buried  alive  within  the  adamantine  bowels  of 
the  long-gone  and  forgotten  past.  The  air  which  I  made 
effort  to  breathe  was  dead;  and  I  felt  that  I,  too,  should 
soon  die.  A  paralyzing  chilliness  crept  over  me;  my  eyes 
could  scarcely  move  in  their  sockets  as  they  discerned 
vaguely  in  the  scant  light  of  my  taper,  that  monstrous, 
long,  hideous,  undulating  serpent  which  spanned  the  end- 
less walls  just  above  the  ground.  I  sank  almost  uncon- 
sciously down  upon  a  stone  step ;  and,  letting  my  taper  fall 
from  my  frozen  hand,  it's  flame  was  extinguished.  The 
thick  darkness  became  a  heavy  pall  enveloping  me  in  leaden 
folds.... 

That  hour  which  I  passed  alone  in  the  tomb  of  Pharaoh 
was  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  my  life !  I  passed  from 
life  into  death  and  from  thence  into  Eternity! 

At  last  they  returned  and  carried  me  back  into  the 
broad,  bright  day,  and  into  existence.  The  reaction  was 
rapid,  and  I  was  soon  myself  again.  While  my  husband 
was  recovering  from  his  fatigue  and  emotion  in  the  small 
shadow  of  the  barren  mountain,  I  held,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  tomb,  and  in  no  sacrilegious  way,  my  usual  conference 
with  the  men  who  were  joined  by  other  later  arrivals ;  and 
all  were  attentive  and  eager  to  hear. 

We  were  to  return  over  the  mountain.  The  ardent 
sun  was  in  its  first  decline;  and,  as  I  scanned  the  upward 
steep,  I  told  Achmed  that  it  was  impracticable,  if  not  im- 
possible, to  carry  me  up  (for  I  am  of  no  mean  proportions)  ; 


THEBES. TOMBS  OF  KINGS. THE   COLOSSI.  193 

but,  with  one  accord,  those  devoted  fellows  declared  that 
if  I  were  twice  or  thrice  my  weight,  and  the  mountain  as 
steep  again,  they  would  carry  me  up  and  never  feel  tired ! 
— and  I  half  believed  them — those  dark-browed,  kind- 
hearted  men! 

In  spite  of  my  misgivings  we  started ;  but  I  must  con- 
fess that  my  heart  held  high  riot  during  that  long  hour's 
tug  of  those  faithful  fellahs,  much  of  the  time  on  their 
hands  and  knees  in  the  shifting  sand,  and  constantly  shift- 
ing me  from  shoulder  to  shoulder  without  stopping — for 
that  was  impossible.  To  stop  was  danger,  and  perhaps 
death,  for  us  all.  I  was  obliged  to  look  upward  and  far 
away,  never  downward  into  the  sheer  precipice,  lest  I 
should  be  seized  with  vertigo.  The  faithful  guide  con- 
stantly cried:  "Look  up!  look  up!" 

So  it  falls  sometimes  in  life;  when  we  must  cross  an 
abyss  of  sorrow,  or  scale  a  mountain  of  trial,  we  must 
keep  our  eyes  upward;  and  when  we  are  unable  to  go  by 
ourselves,  we  must  be  content  to  be  carried  by  The  Stron- 
ger. Yet  nothing,  not  even  the  stern  injunction  of  our  care- 
ful dragoman,  could  prevent  me,  at  every  turn,  from  cast- 
ing a  glance  behind  to  see  if  the  cher  Pere  were  safe  and 
following  with  his  four  guides.  He  was  on  foot,  as  only 
weak  women  are  carried  over  this  difficult  pass.  My  anx- 
iety was  intense  as  he  suffers  from  vertigo  at  the  least 
elevation, — and  now  he  was  on  the  very  edge  of  the  preci- 
pice all  the  way !  His  peril  dispelled  all  fears  for  myself. 
The  strong,  careful  guides  kept  strictest  watch  of  him 
every  moment  of  the  ascent,  and  put  themselves  constantly 
between  him  and  the  danger, — often  holding  up  a  bournous 
to  hide  the  near  abyss. — Good  faithful  Egyptians !  I  shall 
never  forget  their  devotion  in  that  awful  passage  over  the 
tombs  of  their  dead  kings!  [Another  object  lesson:  In 
life's  emergency  a  live  fellah  is  better  than  a  dead  Pha- 
raoh!] 


194  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

At  last  we  came  to  where  I  could  be  put  down  and  wait 
for  the  slower  traveller.  The  joy  of  meeting  alive  was 
worth  the  perilous  ascent !  It  was  second  only  to  getting 
into  Heaven  after  a  hazardous  life  and  agonizing  death! 

Now  began  the  unfolding  of  the  Thebian  hills — the  far- 
away plains  and  nearer  valleys;  and  soon  afterward- 
skirting  the  long  ledge  of  rock  which  formed  a  platform 
just  over  where  they  sleep, — we  were  at  the  summit,  with 
the  wonderful  panorama  at  our  feet — stretching  away  to 
the  north  and  south  and  across  the  vast  plain  where  stood 
the  mighty  city  of  the  Hundred  Gates, — now  marked  only 
by  the  ruins  of  Karnak  and  Luxor  on  the  opposite  horizon. 
We  rested  here  a  long  time,  breathing  the  rare  crystalline 
air  and  joining  in  that  interminable  human  caravansera 
whose  past  history  lies  hidden  beneath  that  deep  alluvial 
soil  of  the  fast-flowing  river.  From  this  sublime  pinnacle, 
one  obtains  the  finest  view  of  the  marvelous  valley  of  the 
Nile.  We  longed  to  linger  but  the  sun  would  not  make  a 
halt.  The  descent  was  less  perilous,  but  physically  far 
more  painful  for  us  all — man  and  beast.  In  an  hour's  time, 
however,  we  were  taking  our  five-o'clock  tea  with  Mon- 
sieur Edouard  Naville  in  his  tent-house  amid  the  exquisite 
ruins  of  Queen  Hatasu's  Temple,  built  by  the  great  woman 
king,  1600  B.  C.  Of  all  the  discoveries  in  Egypt,  this 
temple  is  perhaps  the  finest  in  delicate  carving  and  color- 
ing. Among  the  strange  circumstances  of  this  never-to- 
be-forgotten  day,  was  finding  the  tall  youth  we  used  to 
see  daily,  about  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  hurrying  through 
the  streets  of  Geneva  with  his  books  under  his  arm,  to  his 
college — now  our  host,  amid  the  marvelous  antiquities  he 
has  unearthed; — and  with  him  we  sat  down  amidst  the 
(lust  of  the  centuries,  and  the  ashes  of  the  Pharaohs, 
uniting  our  whole  finite  world,  from  Hongkong  to  Lon- 
don, Paris,  Geneva,  and  Thebes, — in  a  steaming  tea-pot! 

I,  personally,  am  happy  and  proud  that  Monsieur  Na- 


THEBES. TOMBS  OF  KINGS. THE   COLOSSI. 

ville  has  disclosed  the  historical  fact,  in  unveiling  this 
beautiful  temple,  that  there  were  in  those  days  of  old,  also, 
great  women  who  were  queens.  And  I  am  still  happier 
and  prouder  that  the  great  queens  of  our  day  are  not 
forced,  or  induced,  into  the  unwomanly  subterfuge  of 
mannish  travesty!* 

The  Colossi. 

The  great  shadow  of  the  mountain  had  long  enveloped 
the  half  unearthed  temple,  and  covered  the  broad  court 
and  terrace  with  its  sombre  mantle,  stealthily  leaping  from 
step  to  step  down  the  broad  stair-case  which  leads  to  the 
avenue  of  the  Sphinxes, — and  was  extending  rapidly  across 
the  plain  toward  the  Nile, — when  we,  at  last,  said  au  re- 
voir  to  our  host  and  started  back  to  Luxor — five  miles 
away.  Our  carriers  were  refreshed,  and  all  were  eager 
for  the  return.  Though  they  started  off  with  a  trot,  they 
could  not  catch  the  receding  sunlight.  It  was,  therefore, 
in  the  mysterious  shadows  of  the  fast-falling  twilight  that 
we  passed  the  Colossi,  sitting  out  there,  in  the  midst  of  the 
deserted  plains  of  Thebes,  in  their  unspeakable  loneliness : 
—this  gigantic  couple  in  stone.  One  is  Memnon,  who 
every  morning,  when  the  rising  sun-god  salutes  him  with 
his  ardent  love,  sends  forth  a  low,  tremulous  reply. 

In  the  silence  of  the  Egyptian  twilight,  amid  the  cool 
rich  verdure  which  spreads  about  them  a  sacred  carpet, 
woven  by  Nature's  mystic  loom — meet  for  the  feet  of  the 

*As  I  am  correcting  this  proof,  to-day,  April  30,  1905,  in  the  city  of 
Lyons,  France,  here  comes  a  communication  from  Professor  Naville  descri- 
bing his  recent  discovery,  over  against  Luxor;  of  an  Egyptian  temple  of  the 
Xlth  dynasty,  a  thousand  years  before  that  of  the  woman-king,  Hatasou,  in 
which  is  the  tomb  of  a  negress  Princess.  [With  this  news  comes  to  my  mind 
this  query:  Who  knows  but  that  ten  thousand  years  hence,  negro  explorers 
from  Central  Africa,  while  digging  among  the  ruins  of  our  great  white 
marble  capitol  at  Washington,  may  not  unearth  the  golden  tomb  of  a  woman 
• — a  negress  ruler  of  the  whole  American  continent — named  "Victorious"  be- 
cause of  the  equity  of  her  reign Who  knows?] 


196  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

pilgrims  who  seek  the  land  where  the  Unique  Deity  was 
discovered,  and  for  the  knees  of  all  who  adore  Him, — we 
stood  in  awe  at  their  feet  with  our  faces  turned  to  the 
East  and  our  hearts  toward  the  West.  . .  . 

Silence — silence — Ah!  how  these  men  of  Egypt  know 
how  to  keep  it! — hug  it  to  their  hearts  and  within  their 
souls ! — and  through  ages  and  ages — down-trodden  or  as- 
piring ....  And  the  stars  look  down  as  ever ....  and  beyond 
them — Oh !  beyond  them .... 

As  my  faithful  carriers  lifted  me  gently,  affectionately, 
(miserable  Christian  that  I  am!)  on  their  shoulders — kiss- 
ing my  garments,  I  felt  myself  an  integral  part  of  that 
yoke  which  has  lain  so  long,  and  heavily,  on  their  necks  ;— 
and  looking  up  to  the  accusing  stars,  I  cried  out  into  the 
Egyptian  night  in  my  own  native  tongue:  "O  God,  have 
pity  upon  them  and  punish  us ! 

As  we  moved  on  in  the  darkening  shadows,  so  quickly 
fell  the  night,  that  I  could  now  only  distinguish  the  tur- 
baned  heads  of  my  dusky  carriers,  and  ever  and  anon, 
against  the  sky,  a  great  noiseless  body  passed  by:  camels, 
with  their  burdens,  returning  from  the  market  city.  Then 
came  the  gentle  admonitions  of  the  herding  shepherds  with 
their  returning  flocks. 

At  last  we  descried  the  distant  lights  of  Luxor — and 
on — on  we  went,  over  the  redolent  earth; — and  then,  I 
felt  the  men's  fatigue,  and  heard  in  their  hard,  rhythmic, 
deep  breathing,  a  moan,  almost  a  groan.  With  a  poignant 
self-accusation  I  began  to  do  the  only 'thing  possible: — to 
chant,  in  their  soft  Arab  tones,  the  litany  that  I  had 
learned.  Immediately  they  all  took  it  up  and  my  conscience 
was  lightened,  and  I  believe  my  body  also,  as  was  theirs 
— for  they  sprang  on  with  renewed  celerity.  When  I  told 
them  how  I  felt  for  their  fatigue,  they  all  protested  ener- 
getically and  declared  they  would  be  happy  to  carry  me 
all  night,  and  every  day,  if  I  would  only  come  back  to  them 


THEBES. TOMBS  OF  KINGS. THE  COLOSSI. 

again.     This  was  their  constant  refrain  which  Achmed 
translated  to  me: 

"O  Allah,  Allah !  bring  back  this  lady  to  us, 
For  she  is  our  mother.     Allah!    Allah! 
She  goes  away  to-morrow  and  we  shall  weep  without 
a  mother !     Allah !     Allah !" 

At  last  we  felt  the  herbs  and  grass  were  passed  and 
that  we  were  on  the  sand.  Now  we  descended  the  banks, 
and  there,  under  the  bright  star-light  lay  the  broad,  steel- 
black  Nile — shot  across  with  flashing  reverberations  of  the 
gas-lights  of  Luxor !  Then,  after  carrying  us  in  their  arms 
to  the  broad  flat  boats,  they  carried  the  donkeys  also — and 
we  were  soon  across  the  dark  tide — and  our  star-day  in 
Egypt  was  ended. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

RETURN  TO  CAIRO. 

IT  was  with  infinite  regret  that  we  quitted  the  steamer 
at  Cairo ;  and  had  it  been  possible,  we  would  have  re- 
turned— making  another  trip  without  going  ashore.  But 
we  were  soon,  however,  enveloped  in  that  delirious  pande- 
monium; and  the  streets,  houses,  and  people,  all  seemed 
to  welcome  us  back  again,  and  before  we  had  time  to  col- 
lect ourselves — to  say  nothing  of  trappings — we  were  set- 
tled in  the  quiet  and  comfortable  Villa  Victoria,  in  the 
midst  of  its  large  garden,  turning  our  thoughts  to  other 
things  of  such  engrossing  and  happy  nature,  that  we  were 
forced  to  let  the  Nile  run  out  of  our  minds. 

Now  wre  must  seek  some  of  the  living  monuments. 
Pere  Hyacinthe  was  received  by  the  Khedive  whom  he 
found  cordial  in  manners,  intelligent,  highly  cultivated, 
and  possessing  large  views  of  reform  and  progress,  with 
an  ardent  desire  for  the  moral  elevation,  as  well  as  the 
material  prosperity  of  his  people. — After  His  Highness, 
there  was  one  above  all  others,  interesting  and  famous, 
and  who  could  open  Egypt  to  our  study — not  a  Pharaoh, 
but  a  Joseph; — the  keeper  of  the  King's  granaries,  and 
the  interpreter  of  royal  dreams:  Nubar  Pasha. 

We  already  knew  him  in  Paris,  where  he  usually  goes 
every  summer;  and  if  we  did  not  know  that  he  was  an 
Egyptian,  and  an  Armenian,  we  should  certainly  think 
him  a  Frenchman ;  so  perfectly  is  he  at  home  in  our  tongue, 


RETURN  TO  CAIRO.  1 99 

land,  literature,  laws,  and  customs; — and  I  was  happy 
to  find  him  as  much  at  home  in  my  native  tongue  as  that 
of  my  husband. 

All  who  know  the  history  of  modern  Egypt  know  the 
life  of  Nubar  Pasha,  and  what  he  has  done  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  justice,  law,  and  order  in  Egypt,  where  he 
has  been  Prime  Minister  for  so  many  years — frorrr  Mo- 
hammed Ali  to  Abbas  Pasha — the  present  Khedive.  His- 
tory will  know  how  to  appreciate  this  benefactor  of  a 
sorry  people  in  its  travail  of  a  new  birth!  In  retiring 
recently  from  public  life,  because  of  his  advanced  age, 
he  can  yet  serve  his  country  and  the  world,  if  he  would 
only  consent  to  publish  his  memoirs  which  he  has  given 
us  to  read  in  manuscript.* 

At  his  hospitable  table  in  Cairo  and  on  his  broad  ve- 
randa, he  frequently  spoke  to  us  for  hours  of  his  most 
interesting  life  and  experience,  as  well  as  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  history  of  Egypt.  He  was  born  in  1825  in 
Smyrna,  of  an  Armenian  family,  who  had  fled  there  sev- 
eral generations  before  from  persecution.  His  palatial 
residence,  though  in  the  midst  of  Cairo,  is  surrounded 
by  a  vast  garden  filled  with  stately  palms  and  other  great 
trees,  making  it  a  paradise  for  those  who  walk  and  talk 
there  unmolested  by  the  outer  world.  He  has  great  riches, 
but  his  dwelling  is  as  sober  and  simple  as  his  character, 
We  met  many  entertaining  people  at  his  house  and  at  his 
table,  and  learned  much  more  than  we  ever  knew  before 
of  the  prodigious  efforts  made  by  this  rare  statesman  to 

*  I  sit  by  his  side  to-day,  (July  4,  1897),  in  his  home  in  Paris,  as  he  talks 
to  me  of  all  this ;  and  the  great  Webster-like  head  is  bowed  with  accumulated 
years  and  labor — and  there,  as  he  reclines  in  his  deep  armchair,  it  is  not  the 
old  man,  certainly,  but  the  man  ripe  in  all  human  experience — the  strong  man 
suffering; — and  like  a  lion  at  bay: — for  there's  an  enemy  in  the  jungle,  ap- 
proaching silently,  steadily, — and  the  king  knows  it — but  he  makes  no  defence 
— why  should  he?.  . .  .The  sombre  Nile  flows  down  steadily  into  the  great  blue 
sea — laving  the  monument  of  Egyptian  granite  on  which  will  be  graven  deep 
— NUBAR  PASHA. 


200  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

place  Egypt  upon  a  living  and  prosperous  basis.  When 
I  asked  him  a  bout  portant  the  crucial  question:  "How 
long  are  the  English  going  to  remain  in  Egypt?"  he 
pointed  to  his  foot  which  he  had  injured  some  time  before, 
and  upon  which  he  was  forced  to  wear  a  steel-braced  boot; 
"Well,"  he  replied,  "  I  don't  know  how  long  I  must  wear 
that  iron  clamp  upon  my  foot,  but  this  I  do  know,  that  I 
could  not  walk  unless  I  wore  it." 

Voila!  the  statesman  and  diplomat. 

Not  only  history  and  politics,  but  the  great  religious 
questions  and  their  bearings  were  topics  of  our  conver- 
sation. One  day  when  we  were  upon  the  dogmatic  divi- 
sions of  the  Oriental  churches, — which  is  a  tangled  topic 
to  those  not  ready  in  the  matter; — the  great  statesman 
turned  to  Pere  Hyacinthe  and  said: 

"Eh  bien!  mon  Pere,  I  want  you,  who  are  a  Doctor  of 
Theology,  to  tell  me  just  what  I  am  as  an  Armenian." 

The  Pere — though  somewhat  taken  aback  at  this 
strange  and  most  unexpected  question — replied  with  equal 
frankness :  "Why,  you  are  a  Eutychian." 

"Well,"  said  the  Pasha  meditatively,  "that,  I  suppose, 
means  to  believe  a  good  deal." 

"Yes,"  rejoined  the  Pere,  "and,  although  you  are  a 
political  leader  and  statesman  rather  than  a  theologian, 
you  believe  more  than  I  do,  who  am,  however,  thoroughly 
orthodox." 

"Oh,  oh!"  said  His  Excellency,  "and  how  is  that?" 

The  Pere  continued,  "While  I  believe  in  the  dual  na- 
ture of  Christ:  Human  and  Divine;  you  believe  only  in 
the  Divine." 

"Well,"  replied  the  Pasha  slowly,  musingly,  and  with 
reverent  deference, — "I  thank  you." 

That  ended  the  dogmatic  conversation.* 

*Eutyches,  a  Greek  Hierarch  of  Constantinople.,  in  the  fifth  century, 
taught  that  Christ  possessed  but  one  nature:  the  human  being  absorbed  by 


RERURN  TO  CAIRO.  2OI 

Another  living  monument  was  Arnim  Pasha,  the  Di- 
rector of  Public  Instruction. 

As  the  question  of  the  education  of  women  is  one  which 
interests  us  everywhere,  and  especially  in  Egypt,  we  asked 
Nubar  Pasha  concerning  what  was  being  done.  "Come 
again  to-morrow  and  breakfast  with  us,"  he  replied,  "and 
I  will  make  you  acquainted  with  Arnim  Pasha,  the  man 
who  is  doing  more  than  any  one  else  for  schools  in  Egypt." 

We  found  Arnim  Pasha  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life; 
and,  like  his  host,  a  learned  and  distinguished  Egyptian 
of  Armenian  extraction.  He  was  perfectly  acquainted 
with  all  French  methods  of  public  education,  its  excellence 
and  its  defects,  and  was  also  well  informed  as  to  our 
American  superiority  in  public  schools.  He  will  certainly 
not  attempt  to  impose  upon  the  Egyptian  youth  the  great- 
est of  all  the  faults  in  the  French  system  of  education — 
from  the  primary  up  to  the  Humanity  colleges — "cram- 
ming"-—(we  have  no  other  word  in  English  to  express  the 
full  meaning  of  the  French  sur menage.)  He  would  do 
well  to  go  farther  and  find  better — in  the  American  sys- 
tem,— and  I  told  him  so. 

A  day  was  fixed,  and  Arnim  Pasha  took  me  to  visit 
the  two  girls'  schools  in  Cairo.  One  was. founded  several 
years  ago,  and  has  a  French  Matron  at  its  head.  It  has, 
I  think,  about  500  pupils,  Moslems,  Christians,  and  Jew- 
esses,— all  of  the  best  classes  of  the  people.  There  were 
several  under-teachers  of  different  European  nationalities, 
and  most  of  the  essential  studies  of  girls'  education,  in- 
cluding housekeeping  and  needlework,  were  well  taught: 
the  lace- work,  and  linen  and  gold  embroideries  being  of  the 
very  finest.  Many  of  these  fine  fabrics,  which  ladies  from 

the  divine ;  and  this  remains  the  belief  of  the  Armenian,  Coptic,  Syrian,  and 
Abyssinian  churches;  although  the  council  of  Calcedony,  in  451,  condemned  it. 
These  churches  are  called  Eutychian  or  Monophysite. 

[Happily  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  stronger  than  men's  dogmas,  or  the 
Councils;  and  will  eventually  unite  what  these  have  separated.] 


202  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

all  parts  of  the  world  come  to  purchase  in  Paris,  do  not 
know  that  it  is  done  in  the  Orient,  and  much  of  it  by  fair 
fingers  in  the  harems. 

In  this  school  the  French  and  English  languages  rank 
after  the  Arabic.  The  building  is  an  immense  old  palace 
with  gardens  about  it, — so  I  suggested  to  the  Pasha  the 
teaching 'of  gardening  to  the  pupils, — as  all  outdoor  exer- 
cise for  girls  or  women  is  absolutely  lacking  in  Moslem 
countries.  The  spirit  of  this  school  seemed  excellent— 
like  a  large  and  loving  family, — the  Matron  or  Directrice, 
was  mother  of  them  all, — and  the  good  Pasha  was  like 
a  father.  It  was  very  touching  to  see  all  the  pupils  come 
out  to  meet  him  in  the  court  as  we  arrived,  kissing  his 
hands  with  affection  and  respect.  All  were  tidy  and  well- 
mannered.  I  must  note  one  sad  custom  imported  from 
Europe,  and  I  note  it,  not  only  for  the  general  readers, 
fathers,  and  mothers;  but  for  any  teachers  and  doctors 
who  may  read  this.  I  speak  of  the  murderous  fashion 
of  strangulation  about  the  waist  of  women:  the  corset- 
vice.  And  I  noticed  in  these  schools  that  it  was  the  nice 
little  Christian  girls  who  were  most  given  to  this  vice. 
Of  course  I  put  in  a  forcible  protest  to  the  Pasha  and  to 
the  teachers. 

After  a  very  interesting  hour  we  drove  to  the  only 
other  school  in  Cairo,  which  is  on  a  modern  and  more 
advanced  plan,  though  possessing  fewer  pupils.  The  col- 
lege is  a  fine,  new  and  healthy  building  outside  the  crowded 
streets.  At  its  head  is  a  young  English  lady  whose  capa- 
bilities will  doubtless  make  amends  for  her  lack  of  years 
and  experience.  I  am  a  severe  critic,  but  I  can  say  that 
this  school  would  do  honor  even  to  America.  One  fact  is 
incontestable :  the  remarkable  intelligence  of  the  Egyptian 
children. 

It  is  regrettable  that  the  two  public  schools  in  Cairo 
at  the  present  time  (1896)  are  the  only  ones  in  Egypt! 


RETURN  TO  CAIRO.  2O3 

The  Khedive  has,  however,  founded  some  private  schools 
in  Alexandria  upon  a  wise  and  modern  basis.  But  I  am 
quite  sure  that  in  spite  of  the  great  prejudice  of  the  people 
against  allowing  girls  going  from  home  to  be  educated, 
there  will  soon  be  more  schools  throughout  the  country 
for  the  youth  of  both  sexes. 

The  idea  of  education  is  entering  into  the  minds  of 
the  parents,  and  ideas  are  the  necessary  precursor  of  ac- 
tion and  growth,  which  wise  corporations  and  government, 
as  well  as  individuals,  should  take  into  account. 

From  careful  study  and  observation  I  am  quite  sure 
that  if  the  English  should  make  the  least  attempt  to  impose 
education  of  the  children — especially  of  the  girls — they 
would  become  less  sympathetic  than  they  are  now.  Preju- 
dice is  a  hard  master,  and  is  twin-companion  of  ignorance. 
We  should  remember  that  there  is  always  a  right  way  to 
do  a  right  thing,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  in  time  there 
will  not  be  lacking  generous-minded  men,  and  noble- 
hearted  women,  who  will  come  forward  to  this  crying 
need  of  education  in  Egypt.  Such  educators  will  be  out- 
side of  all  political  intrigue,  governmental  considerations, 
or  sectarian  aims,  and  do  their  duty  in  wise  and  charitable 
consideration  for  the  social  customs  of  the  people,  and  in 
undisguised  respect  for  their  religious  belief  and  prac- 
tices,— being  convinced  that  there  is  a  necessity  of  broad- 
ening minds  as  well  as  rivers, — of  rapid  communication 
of  healthy  ideas,  as  well  as  swift  railroad  transit, — and  of 
the  cultivation  of  those  virtues  which  make  up  the  real 
value  and  happiness  of  a  people — as  of  equal  importance 
with  the  four  harvest-crops  a  year  of  succulent  herbs  for 
donkeys — or  surplus  grain  for  exportation ....  May  we 
not  wait  over  long  for  such  instructors! 

The  first  condition  to  obtain  happy  results  is  confi- 
dence, on  the  part  of  Moslems ; — confidence  in  the  moral- 
ity as  well  as  in  the  capability  and  disinterestedness  of 


2O4  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

those  who  come  here  as  examples  of  a  better  civilization. 
And  this  can  never  be  as  long  as  English  women — matrons 
and  young  girls — are  seen  at  weddings,  dinners,  or  social 
gatherings,  with  the  upper  part  of  the  body  shamefully 
exposed  before  Moslems, — to  whom  to  look  upon  nude 
women  is  a  cardinal  sin, — and  until  these  same  women 
(writh  already  flushed  faces)  cease  to  call  for  "wine  or 
sherry,  if  you  please,"  at  Moslem  tables  upon  which  there 
is  only  water ; — all  of  which  I  have  seen  with  inexpressible 
shame  and  disgust. 

As  I  write  these  last  lines,  sorrowfully, — I  look  away 
to  other  lands  of  Islam,  joyfully; — where  I  have  seen  other 
English  women — and  some  were  ladies  of  high  degree,— 
working  hand  in  hand,  heart  to  heart,  with  the  humblest, 
— carrying  light  and  consolation,  curing  the  sick,  setting 
good  example  while  eating  common  bread, — drinking  and 
giving  the  pure  water  of  health  and  life, — clothed  in  simple 
raiment  and  loving  kindness; — and  upon  whose  non-de- 
collete shoulders  was  worn  the  sign  of  the  Holy  Cross .... 

Honor  and  glory  to  you,  lovely  Christian  English  wo- 
men, among  the  sublime  and  arid  hills  of  Lebanon — and 
elsewhere ! 

Not  only  remarkable  men,  but  there  are  also  remark- 
able Moslem  women  in  Cairo,  with  some  of  whom  I  became 
acquainted; — among  whom  was  Her  Highness  the  Prin- 
cess Nazli.  But  I  will  not  venture  here  into  Harem  Life. 

I  cannot,  however,  amidst  all  these  remarkable  people 
neglect  to  say  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  some  most 
interesting  Babists — that  remarkable  sect  of  Protestant 
Moslems — whose  knowledge  of  the  New,  as  well  as  the 
Old  Testament,  and,  also,  their  evangelical  life  and  con- 
duct, make  one  of  the  latest  manifestations  of  an  awaken- 
ing among  the  believers  of  the  Orient. 

I  wish  to  add,  too,  that  after  careful  observation  and 
study  I  believe  that  the  twro  principal  evils  in  Islam  are, 


RETURN  TO  CAIRO.  2O5 

first,  the  seclusion  of  woman  and  her  consequent  exclusion 
7rom  intellectual  development; — and,  secondly,  the  aug- 
mented Oriental  somnolence  and  inactivity  resulting  from 
the  general  use  of  tobacco — by  both  sexes.  Her  women  are 
more  secluded  and  incapable  to-day  than  in  the  time  of 
the  Kalifs,  when  there  were  many  learned  women,  poet- 
esses and  wise  counsellors  of  men — at  the  head  of  jvvhom 
stand  Kadisha  and  Aisha,  the  wives  of  Mahomet; — and 
the  positive  decadence  of  Islamic  power  dates  from  the 
use  of  tobacco — introduced,  with  other  vices,  by  Chris- 
tians. And  I  must  say  that  in  view  of  the  deplorable  ex- 
amples of  our  pretended  "higher  civilization"  which  carries 
with  it  lower  morals  and  diminished  faith,  I  am  not  hasty 
in  expressing  regret  at  .the  slowly  accorded  liberty  given 
to  Moslem  women. 

The  whole  world — Christianity,  Israel,  Islam,  Pagan- 
ism, and  Savagery  are  all  victims  by  perverted  appetite 
(the  old  vice  of  Adam)  and  through  deplorable  ignorance 
—of  the  universal  poisoning  of  the  human  race  by  nicotine. 
Tobacco  affects  moral,  civil,  domestic,  and  religious  life 
by  its  direct  action  upon  brain  and  heart — troubling  alike 
reason  and  affection — the  two  factors  of  conscience — low- 
ering its  action  and,  therefore,  lowering  manhood.  The 
different  mentality  and  consumption  of  tobacco  by  the  dif- 
ferent races,  explain  the  different  effects.  Orientals,  given 
to  meditation  rather  than  action,  smoke  double  the  quan- 
tity of  tobacco  compared  to  the  robust,  active  Occidental; 
but  his  poisonous  weed  often  contains  less  than  one  per 
cent,  of  nicotine,  while  that  of  the  Occident,  America  and 
France,  often  contains  seven  per  cent.  Chemical  extrac- 
tion of  the  deadly  poison  of  three  of  these  "best  cigars" 
will  kill  a  man !  The  faith  of  the  Christian  is  lessened  by 
this  empoisonment, — that  of  the  Mussulman  remains  firm 
in  spite  of  it ! 

The  most  striking  effect  of  tobacco  is  the  obliteration  of 


2O6  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

moral  perceptions,  the  diminution  of  natural  affection, 
the  failure  to  discern  between  colors,  but  far  more  grave 
the  failure  to  discern  between  right  and  wrong,  between 
truth  and  falsehood,  love  and  passion,  righteous  ambition 
and  rapacity  and  domination; — given,  as  the  first-fruits 
of  the  tobacco  vice  is  disobedience  of  parents  and  law, 
lying,  stealing,  revolt,  ruined  health,  blindness,  ataxy, 
sterility,  debauchery,  infidelity,  war,  murder. 

Any  one  can  verify  those  statements  by  personal  ob- 
servation of  their  immediate  surroundings  (not  forgetting 
hereditary  inocculation)  in  hospitals,  courts,  and  prisons. 

I  have  studied  this  question  carefully  for  over  half  a 
century  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  and  I  am 
convinced  that  the  use  of  tobacc.o  is  the  principal  cause 
of  the  obliteration  of  religious  faith  and  its  accompanying 
degeneracy  of  the  race — as  it  is  above  all  others  the  vice 
against  nature :  taking  fire,  with  its  fumes  and  its  poison, 
into  the  human  body; — thereby  profaning  the  Temple  of 
the  Holy  Spirit ! 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  ENGLISH   IN  EGYPT. 

SENTINEL!  what  of  the  day? 
When  we  are  called  of  duty  or  science  to  walk  over 
a  slumbering  volcano,  it  is  best  to  pass  lightly  and  quickly. 
There  are  burning  questions  in  political  science  over  which 
we  would  do  well  to  fly.  Love,  only,  makes  us  linger  in 
dangerous  places.  But  it  would  be  hypocritical  if  not  un- 
just to  seem  to  ignore  these  volcanic  questions,  and  per- 
haps uncharitable  to  all  who  have  an  interest  in  them, 
particularly  to  those  concerned  in  their  resolution.  I  will, 
therefore,  give  my  opinion  (for  what  it  is  worth)  of  the 
"occupation"  of  Egypt  by  England,  especially  as  I  have 
so  often  been  asked  by  those  of  all  nations  and  races  who 
cross  our  paths  in  these  regions — and  particularly  by  the 
English  and  the  Egyptians. 

In  Egypt  there  are  two  questions  put  by  everybody: 
"Have  you  seen  the  Pyramids?"  and  "What  do  you  think 
of  the  English  occupation?" 

I  have  already  replied  to  the  first.  In  replying  to  the 
second,  I  use  the  same  argument  to  Mussulmans  as  to 
Christians,  to  Egyptians  as  to  English:  and  I  must  say, 
my  argument  is  such  that  so  far  I  have  had  no  logical  re- 
joinder. It  is  this :  If  we  believe  in  the  Providence  of  God, 
which  shapes  the  ends  of  individuals,  peoples,  and  nations, 
we  must  believe  that  in  due  time — that  is,  when  the  Egyp- 
tians are  capable  of  taking  care  of  themselves, — they  will 


2O8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

be  led  by  that  same  Providence  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  doing  so. 

If  it  be  true  that  "in  the  time  of  peace  we  must  prepare 
for  war" — it  is  no  less  true  that  in  time  of  oppression  we 
must  prepare  for  liberty.  And  liberty  which  does  not 
stand  for  morals  and  justice,  for  peace  and  God,  will  fall 
into  what  is  worse  than  any  foreign  occupation — worse 
than  slavery:  anarchy  and  destruction! 

And  even  there  where  liberty  bites  the  dust, — as  it  does 
still,  alas !  among  some  of  the  leading  nations  of  the  earth 
(and  Christian  nations  stand  first  in  the  line) — we  must 
remember  though  we  may  not  understand  the  mystery— 
that  God  governs  men  by  their  misfortunes,  sorrows,  and 
sins,  and  He  governs  the  world  by  the  misgovernment  of 
men. 

The  fact  is  that  Egypt  called  in  England  to  help  her 
in  a  terrible  crisis — and  England  came ; — promising  form- 
ally, however,  that  her  occupation  was  only  for  a  time. 
That  was  years  ago.  She  still  remains.  And  these  per- 
tinacious Egyptians  complain  and  say:  "It's  all  very  well 
to  argue,  but  it  is  not  expected  that  when  a  man  with  a 
broken  leg  calls  in  a  doctor  to  save  his  life,  that  he  is  going 
to  remain  in  his  house,  at  his  table,  and  in  his  bed,  forever ; 
— particularly  when  the  leg  is  off,  and  the  cripple  on  his 
one  solid  foot, — and  the  bill  paid !  Nor  is  it  expected  that 
when  a  policeman  is  called  to  arrest  a  thief,  or  even  an 
assassin,  that  he  is  to  remain  for  good!  This  argument 
grows  stronger  when  the  injured  man  is  pretty  well  con- 
vinced that  not  only  his  life,  but  his  leg  as  well,  might 
have  been  saved  with  a  less  painful  surgical  operation, 
and  with  a  less  expensive  and  more  delicate  doctor; — or 
the  thief  arrested  by  the  men  of  the  family — had  they  had 
courage  enough. 

When,  in  1856,  the  kingdom  of  Oudh  was  annexed  to 
England  by  the  East  India  Company,  Sir  Henry  Laurence 


THE  ENGLISH   IN   EGYPT.  2<X) 

did  not  hesitate  to  call  it  "the  most  unrighteous  act  ever 
committed."  But  that  great  Christian  Governor  was  killed 
by  the  revolted  people  early  in  the  mutiny,  and  never 
dreamt  of  what  would  occur  before  the  close  of  the  century 
—in  Algiers,  Madagascar,  the  Philippines,  and  the  Trans- 
vaal. , .  .Passons! 

It  is  probable  that  England  will  not  remain  in  -Egypt 
forever.  Only  there  are  two  ways  of  going  away:  as  a 
friend  or  as  a  foe, — willingly  or  by  force, — in  peace  or  in 
war, — soon  or  in  another  century.  The  Hebrews  remained 
400  years!  The  Government  of  England  is  one  thing, 
and  the  conscience  of  England  another.  But  who  governs 
in  England — that  great  and  freest  of  all  nations?  It  is 
not  a  grand  and  gracious  Queen  or  a  wise  and  just  King; 
they  only  reign.  Nor  is  it  her  parliament, — that  only 
governs  by  investiture  or  proxy.  It  is  the  people  who 
rule  Britannia — on  the  land  and  on  the  sea — at  home  and 
abroad;  and  we  have  confidence  in  that  people. 

History,  science,  and  experience  prove  that  great,  or 
heavy  bodies  poised  on  a  pivoted  summit  are  more  or  less 
in  danger  of  losing  their  equilibrium;  and  a  tornado  or 
an  earthquake  is  not  always  necessary  to  bring'  about  the 
catastrophe; — the  silent  action  of  the  elements  is  quite 
sufficient. 

In  her  Victoria's  reign,  England  has  reached  the  apex 
of  human  power  and  greatness — let  her  beware,  "lest  she 
forget — lest  she  forget!"  Let  her  develop  and  strengthen 
the  enclosed  rather  than  enlarge  her  enclosure.  Let  her 
look  to  her  most  precious  heritage — that  which  came  law- 
fully—her own  children.  Many  of  her  acquired  subjects 
are  hers  by  force — few  by  choice.  Let  her  remember  that 
her  moral  strength  and  real  glory  are  in  her  own  sons; 
not  in  her  conquered  colonies.  The  solidarity  of  the 
human  race  is  now  such  that  the  good  conduct  of  all  who 
come  within  the  limits  of  civilization  must  be  maintained, 


2IO  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

enforced  even,  if  need  be ; — and  all  people  who  are  capable 
of  self-government  should  be,  by  the  moral  jurisdiction  of 
the  higher  powers,  insured  their  divine  right  of  liberty 
and  independence.  And  when  the  levelling  of  nations  on 
an  equal  moral  plane  is  such  that  Arbitration  may  be  estab- 
lished, then  Federation  will  follow, — and  then  Peace.  Ar- 
bitration is  already  practiced,  and  Alliance  is  the  first  step 
to  international  Federation.  Permanent  arbitration  must 
come  at  no  distant  day — without,  or  after  another  great 
war  between  civilized  nations.  What  has  been  done  for 
a  year  on  the  Bosphorus,  may  be  done  for  ten  years  else- 
where. And  ten  times  ten  are  a  hundred.*  After  the 
leading  nations  have  accomplished  this  supreme  result  of 
diplomacy  the  nations  of  second  rank  will  be  protected 
and,  in  due  time,  educated  into  fraternal  recognition;— 
and  the  still  weaker  peoples  and  tribes  will  be  cared  for 
by  Universal  Protection  of  Nations. 

In  the  mean  time  England  has  recreated  Egypt  finan- 
cially. She  yields  of  her  untold  riches,  more  perhaps,  than 
any  other  country  on  the  globe ;  and  order  reigns  through- 
out, which  is  the  first  condition  of  all  government — on  the 
earth  and  in  Heaven; — only  in  Heaven  it  is  not  enforced 
—it  inheres.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  good  results,  here, 
as  in  Algiers,  we  cannot  divest  ourselves  of  the  subtle  senti- 
ment which  follows  us  everywhere :  that  there  is  infringe- 
ment upon  God's  Domain :  which  means  upon  the  Right  of 
Man. 

To  the  Egyptians,  who  uneasily  wear  the  foreign  yoke, 
I  can  only  say  this:  Improve  these  days  of  discipline,— 
you  have  need  of  it  as  you  are  a  young  people,  though 
of  an  ancient  race.    Remember  you  are  on  trial,  and  your 
grand  faith  also,  before  the  whole  world  and  before  the 

*  While  I  am  correcting  this  proof,  to-day,  June  20,  1905,  the  most  stu- 
pendous slaughter  of  men  the  earth  has  ever  witnessed  is  going  on  in  Man- 
churia, and  hell  seems  let  loose  throughout  the  world — with  the  concurrence 
of  Heaven  in  earthquakes  and  tornadoes ! 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  EGYPT.  211 

future.  Have  patience  then,  and  loyalty  to  your  masters, 
and  charity,  and  resignation.  All  these  virtues  are  em- 
bodied in  your  grand  religion,  which  you  observe  better 
than  we  do  ours.  . .  .We  need  your  example  as  much  as 
you  need  our  help.  Thus,  in  the  sublime  and  inevitable 
evolution  of  humanity,  all  men  are  solidaire :  severally  and 
conjointly  responsible. 

And  thus  we  have  passed  over  the  burning  ground 
without  scorching  our  shoes,  as  there  is  always  a  right 
and  safe  way  of  telling  the  truth — without  flattery  or  ani- 
mosity. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CAIRO CONCERNING    ISLAM— CONFERENCE    OF    PERE 

HYACINTHE. 

IN  justice  to  Christian  readers  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
religion  of  Mohammed,  I  will  give  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter  a  part  of  the  Hadit  (a  pronunciamento  or 
encyclical  letter)  of  the  Prophet  which  was  written  and 
carried  to  the  convent  of  St.  Catherine,  at  Mount  Sinai, 
in  the  second  year  of  the  Hegira;  and  which  a  former 
resident  there,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Porphyrios  Logothetis,  Archi- 
mandrite of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  in  Paris,  assures 
us,  exists  there  to-day,  as  well  as  a  copy  of  it  in  every 
Christian  church  and  monastery  throughout  Turkey ;  thus 
placing  all  Christians  in  Moslem  countries  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Mohammed;  and  which  protection  we  are  as- 
sured has  naver  been  abused.  Our  learned  informant  said, 
concerning  this :  "We  have  a  mosque  in  our  convent  at  Mt. 
Sinai,  for  Arabs,  Bedouins,  and  all  Moslems  who  come 
there;  and  we  live  in  absolute  peace  and  most  friendly 
relations.  Our  most  intelligent  and  trustworthy  man  in 
our  Patriarchal  financial  affairs  is  a  devout  Mussulman." 
We  have  also  received  from  Mohammed  Essad  Effendi, 
Counsellor  Legist  of  the  Minister  of  France  at  Constan- 
tinople, a  copy,  in  Arabic  and  in  French,  of  the  original 
of  this  important  document  which  is  kept  with  great  care 
by  the  Sultan.  I  quote:  "Mohammed  enjoins  upon  all 
Mussulmans  under  risk  of  offense  to  God  and  of  eternal 


CAIRO. CONCERNING  ISLAM. CONFERENCE.          213 

punishment  to  discuss  with  Christians  in  a  reasonable 
manner,  never  to  humiliate  or  insult  them  in  the  exercise 
of  their  religion;  to  protect  them  with  generosity  and  de- 
fend them  with  magnanimity  wherever  they  may  meet 
them;  and  if  a  Christian  woman  marries  a  Mussulman, 
her  rights  and  free  exercise  of  her  religion  are  to  be  ab- 
solutely respected."  Furthermore,  the  Prophet  enjoins 
Moslems  to  exercise  hospitality  toward  all  Christians,  and 
to  help  them  in  restoring  their  churches  and  other  religious 
edifices.* 

It  is  certain  that  all  Moslems  do  not  abide  by  their 
laws  any  more  than  do  Christians  by  theirs,  but  are  severely 
reproved  by  the  Koran  and  their  religious  teachers — as 
are  we  by  the  Gospel  and  our  spiritual  guides. 

We  had  been  assured  before  we  left  Europe,  and  all 
along  our  route,  by  those  who  knew  far  more  of  Islam 
than  we  did,  that  in  spite  of  the  welcome  which  might  be 
extended  to  us  everywhere  by  Moslems,  there  was  one 
place  which  was  inaccessible,  impenetrable, — and  that  was 
the  Mosque  of  El-Ahzar  at  Cairo, — just  what  of  all  else 
we  most  wished  to  see  and  study,  as  it  is  the  Alma  Mater 
of  Moslemic  learning  throughout  the  world. 

This  immense  and  most  important  institution  is  under 
the  constant  care  and  close  attention  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam 
of  Egypt,  who  ranks  second  only  to  the  great  chief  Sheik- 
ul-Islam  at  Constantinople.  That  of  Tunis  is  third  and 
makes  up  the  universal  triumvirate. 

We  had  no  letters  of  introduction — nothing  but  our 
cards  which  we  presented  at  the  door  of  the  private  resi- 
dence of  this  distinguished  teacher.  We  were  accompanied 
by  a  learned  Effendi  and  were  received  at  once.  The 

*  The  generous  help  of  the  Sultan  in  building  Christian  churches  and 
reparation  is  well  known.  The  valuable  ground  in  the  most  expensive  part 
of  Cairo  was  given  to  the  American  Protestant  Mission  by  the  Khedive,  and 
the  vast  grounds  of  the  American  College  for  girls  in  Constantinople  are  ex- 
empt from  taxes. 


214  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

audience  room  was  on  the  ground  floor,  and  of  great  sim- 
plicity, —  rugs  spread  about,  and  high  white  divans  around 
the  four  sides  of  the  vast  room.  In  the  farthest  corner 
sat  the  venerable  Sheik,  a  man  of  medium  size  and  middle 
age,  clothed  in  dark  robes  with  the  white  turban.  In  a 
quiet  courteous  way,  he  gave  us  welcome  and  ordered 
chairs  to  be  brought,  and  refreshments.  On  either  side 
of  him  sat  several  other  venerable  sheiks.  Being  a  woman 
and  a  Christian,  and  therefore  a  distant  daughter  of  the 
Synagogue,  I  sought  if  not  the  ''lowest  seat"  (for  all  are 
equal  in  Islam),  at  least  the  more  retired;  but  the  cour- 
teous Sheik  invited  me  to  sit  next  to  him,  and  he  f  renqently 
addressed  himself  to  me  —  thereby  inviting  me  to  join  in 
the  conversation,  a  proof  of  the  consideration  shown  to 
women  by  men  in  high  places  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
highest  learning.  —  We  had  already  begun  to  perceive  that 
vi^  Mr>Qlprr|Q  is  not  exclusion. 


Pere  Hyacinthe  explained  that  we  had  come  to  learn 
as  much  as  possible,  not  only  for  our  own  satisfaction, 
but  also  for  the  purpose  of  rectifying  many  errors  in 
Europe  concerning  Islam  ;.  whereupon  the  Sheik-ul-Islam 
replied  that  he  "would  be  most  happy  to  give  all  infor- 
mation in  his  power,  for  this  was  charity  and  justice." 
The  conversation  turned  at  once  upon  theological  tenets, 
religious  customs,  and  historical  facts;  and  during  the 
hour  we  spent  in  his  company,  we  received  much  valuable 
information  from  this  foremost  religious  teacher  in  Islam. 
Upon  our  departure  we  were  again  assured  of  warm  wel- 
come whenever  we  chose  to  visit  him.  The  next  day  a  lead- 
ing Sheik,  who  is  a  distinguished  professor  of  theology, 
accompanied  us  to  the  great  Mosque.  —  What  a  spectacle! 
a  field  of  white  turbans!  over  one  thousand  students  —  all 
sitting  in  groups  on  the  floor  around  the  Imans  or  Sheiks, 
their,  teachers  and  professors,  —  who,  for  the  most  part, 
are  in  the  same  humble  attitude,  though  sometimes  they 


GRAND   MOSQUE   OF   EL-AHZAR,    CAIRO. FIVE    MINARETS   AND   DOME. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 

££L\F( 


CAIRO. CONCERNING  ISLAM. CONFERENCE.          215 

stand  against  a  column  but  rarely  sit  in  a  chair.  And  what 
attention ! — each  with  his  inkhorn  at  his  belt,  and  reed  pen, 
—writing  on  the  open  palm  of  his  left  hand,  which  is  the 
custom  with  all  who  write  Arabic.  No  tables  or  desks 
are  needed.  In  learning,  as  in  all  vocations,  life  is  main- 
tained at  its  simplest  expression.  Even  in  Paris  our 
learned  Oriental  friends  disdain  our  desks  when  writing 
Arabic;  and  certainly  the  Arabesque  characters  are  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  written  languages. — The  Sheiks, 
Imans,  and  professors  vied  with  each  other  in  explaining 
to  us  everything  of  interest  in  this  vast  institution.  The 
fine  library  is  under  the  special  care  of  the  Khedive  and 
is  principally  in  Arabic  literature — which  once  took  the 
lead  of  all  other  nations, — and  contains  wealth  of  rare 
manuscripts  and  books  of  great  price.  The  teaching,  how- 
ever, is  mostly  oral.  The  memory  of  Moslems  is  prodi- 
gious. We  frequently  met  those  who  could  repeat  the 
Koran  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

This  multitude  of  earnest  young  students  comes  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  and  is  of  every  color  known  among 
men, — from  the  fairest  blue-eyed  faces  of  the  Caucasian 
race  to  the  blackest  ebony  of  the  African  tribes, — and  from 
this  great  school  of  Moslem  faith  go  forth  missionaries 
for  the  conversion  of  the  pagan  world.  The  conversion 
of  Christians,  or  any  who  believe  in  the  One  True  God  is 
never  undertaken,  save  by  rare  fanatics,  and  it  is  forbidden 
by  the  Koran.  They  contend  that  all  who  believe  in  the 
same  and  only  God  are  necessarily  Mussulmans :  that  God 
being  One  and  Omnipotent — there  can  be  but  one  true 
Religion,  and  therefore  all  who  believe  in  Him  as  such, 
are  of  the  same  household  of  faith.  And  no  Christian 
can  gainsay  this  doctrine.  The  conversions  to  Islamism 
among  the  pagan  world  are  enormous.  A  Christian  and 
veteran  traveler  in  Africa,  Monsieur  de  Behagle,*  gives 

*  Recently  killed  by  hostile  savages  in  Central  Africa. 


2l6  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

us  an  estimate  from  personal  observation :  for  the  last  fif- 
teen years  the  annual  average  of  African  converts  to  Islam 
is  sixty  a  day. 

These  students  of  El-Ahzar,  when  they  have  taken 
their  degree  of  Imam  (teacher),  start  out  in  pairs  or 
singly,  but  sometimes  in  groups,  to  separate  in  the  interior 
of  Africa, — without  money  or  luggage — -only  their  prayer 
carpet  folded  over  their  shoulder,  to  serve  as  tent,  bed, 
and  mosque, — and  some  without  even  this  luxury,  using 
their  mantle  instead.  They  are  well  versed  in  Arabic  and 
also  in  different  African  dialects,  and  go  into  the  desert, 
or  into  the  mountains ;  the  tropics  or  the  regions  of  snow, 
helping,  teaching,  and  converting  savages  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  God.  They  live  as  brethren  with  the  most  hostile 
tribes,  partaking  with  gratitude  of  the  simplest  fare,  teach- 
ing humility,  resignation,  and  charity  by  their  own  lives. 
There  is  no  controversy — nothing  but  the  teaching  of  two 
fundamental  doctrines :  God  and  the  Judgment.  And  this 
doctrine  is  so  simple  and  so  true,  withal, — so  remarkable 
and  beneficent,  that  it  only  needs  to  be  proclaimed  to  be 
accepted  at  once.  The  lowest  fetish-mongers  and  idolaters 
soon  begin  to  feel  their  dignity  and  then  their  relation  to 
God;  and  gradually  stand  forth  a  higher  creation — a  new 
man.  Limitation  of  wives  is  imposed  upon  all  converts 
or  believers,  and  from  promiscuity  to  four  wives  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  constitution  of  the  family.  They  need  but 
little  catechism  and  no  churches  nor  altars  nor  robes  nor 
mitres  nor  lavender  gloves,  nor  creeds  save  this:  "God  is 
the  only  God — and  Mohammed  is  His  Prophet" — and  one 
repetition  is  enough  to  engrave  it  on  their  memories  for- 
ever. There  are  no  back-sliders  or  unbelievers  among 
them.  All  they  need  is  the  earth  on  which  they  prostrate 
themselves  in  adoration,  and  the  sky  through  which  they 
see  paradise.  But  it  is  very  possible,  very  probable  indeed, 
that  these  teachers  warn  these  simple  tribes  against  what 


CAIRO. CONCERNING  ISLAM. CONFERENCE.          217 

they  have,  perhaps,  already  learned  to  beware  of :  the  pale- 
faced  men  who  come  among  them  with  one  book  and  many 
bottles.  That  One  Book — great  and  blessed — remains  un- 
opened to  their  untaught  minds,  while  the  bottles  are 
opened  all  too  quickly!  They  have,  however,  no  need  to 
be  warned  against  the  ever-feared  white  man  who  skulks 
in  the  jungle,  stealing  men  and  women  to  make  them 
slaves.  A  humble-minded  domestic  from  Ethiopia  said  to 
me  one  day  after  some  pains  on  my  part  to  make  him  be- 
lieve that  Christians  were  not  as  bad  as  he  thought:  "Ah 
Madame,  you  see,  we,  down  dar  in  dem  hot  climates  don't 
b'live  much  in  dem  white  peoples  who  bring  dair  great 
God  shut  up  in  a  little  book,  and  dair  big  debil  shut  up  in 
a  little  bottle,  an  de  trouble  is  dis :  le  little  book  is  shut  up 
so  tight  all  mixed  up  wid  black  spots  and  scratches  on 
white  paper — he's  no  good  a  pussen; — but  de  big  debil 
in  de  little  bottle,  he  make  a  great  noise,  an  goes  pop !  an 
he  jumps  right  out  into  evrybody! — an  den  evrybody  is 
debil!" 

The  simple  and  unflinching  faith  of  Mussulmans  is 
their  only  strength  and  sure  fortress  in  temporal,  spiritual, 
and  eternal  things.  Nor  is  it  surprising  from  what  they 
see  in  the  outer  world  that  they  look  with  suspicion  upon 
all  outside  influences  and  refuse  absolutely  any  foreign 
interference.  The  English  here  in  Egypt,  and  foreign 
occupants  in  any  land  of  Islam  have  no  jurisdiction  or 
prestige  in  the  religious  realm.  This  tenacity  naturally 
leads  to  exclusiveness  and  to  delay  in  accepting  modern 
ideas  and  methods.  And  the  principal  reason  is  fear  of 
our  irreligion  and  vices. 

During  our  sojourn  in  Cairo,  we  often  went  to  the 
great  Mosque  of  El-Ahzar,  feeling  "at  home"  as  we  do 
in  all  temples  built  for  the  worship  of  God.  Thus  it  was 
by  His  infinite  love  that  not  only  were  the  doors  of  this 
great  central  temple  of  worship  and  greatest  school  of 


2l8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Moslem  law  opened  to  us,  but  also  the  hearts  of  many  of 
its  learned  Sheiks  and  Professors — foremost  of  all — the 
great  and  venerable  Sheik-ul-Islam !  So  well  acquainted 
did  we  become,  and  so  easy  was  the  ingress  to  his  presence 
made  for  us,  that  I,  woman  as  I  am,  could  go  alone, 
"comme  un  enfant  de  la  niaison,"  as  he  said  in  Arabic, 
(like  a  child  of  the  house),  whenever  I  liked,  accompanied 
only  by  my  dragoman  who  remained  outside  the  door. 
And  when  I  entered  that  fine  large  study,  the  venerable 
Sheik,  suspending  his  grave  studies  with  the  Imams, 
sages,  and  scribes  who  surrounded  him,  would  offer  me 
a  seat  on  the  high  white  divan  beside  him,  call  for  refresh- 
ments and  reply  to  my  enquiries  with  greatest  attention 
and  fatherly  kindness.  There  was  always  some  one  among 
the  learned  Sheiks  who  could  act  as  interpreter.  The 
questionings  were  mostly  mine,  for  I  had  certainly  wished 
much  more  to  learn  of  him  than  he  of  me.  The  subjects 
of  our  travels,  and  impressions  of  our  two  patries,  always 
led  the  way  to  the  inevitable  theme  of  religion ;  its  rami- 
fications in  history  and  in  the  human  heart;  but  above 
all  in  its  logical  sequence — the  One  and  Only  God.  On  this 
broad  and  high  platform  we  were  in  perfect  .accord  and 
fraternal  harmony.  ^And  what  infinite  satisfaction  to  be 
at  one  in  essentials  with  those  with  whom,  in  non-essentials 
we  are  so  far  apart!  It  only  required  the  little  grain  of 
mustard-seed  with  moderate  intelligence,  good  will,  and 
charity,  to  overthrow  the  mountains  which  had  ever  threat- 
ened to  crush  us,  and  to  fill  up  the  separating  abyss  which 
had  always  yawned  at  our  feet.]  The  Oriental  Arab  theo- 
logian is  not  a  polemist  in  our  sense  of  argumentation, 
and  avoids  vain  philosophies  and  metaphysics.  Of  all 
others  he  is  the  purest  type  of  the  Old  Testament  pro- 
phetic nature:  strong  in  faith;  broad  and  simple  in  doc- 
trine; and,  therefore,  comprehensive  and  conclusive.  I 
have  met  only  one  fanatic  Moslem,  (not  in  Egypt)  and  he 


CAIRO. CONCERNING  ISLAM. CONFERENCE.          219 

was  not  altogether  of  a  sound  mind.  Charity  is  a  real 
and  all-prevailing  virtue  with  the  followers  of  the  Prophet. 
Query:  Is  it  not  possible  for  us,  worn-out  believers,  to 
accept  something  practical  in  primary  principles  from 
these  our  more  modern  brethren,  if  we  still  refuse  to  follow 
Christ? 

Pere  Hyacinthe  was  invited  to  speak  to  the  people  of 
Cairo,  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Khedive,  with  the 
cooperation  of  a  joint  committee  of  Christians  and  Mos- 
lems, he  gave  a  conference  at  the  Grand  Opera  House  upon 
the  Reconciliation  of  Religions. 

A  learned  Sheik,  accompanied  by  two  others,  were  sent 
to  me  in  my  box  "to  convey"  as  they  said,  "to  the  great 
Christian  Preacher  and  Reformer,  the  felicitations  of  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam."  And  I  never  felt  prouder  of  my  environ- 
ment than  with  these  distinguished  and  most  imposing 
Arabs, — draped  in  white  and  clothed  in  manly  dignity; 
and  who,  notwithstanding  their  grave  deportment,  joined 
heartily  in  the  enthusiastic  applause  of  the  immense  audi- 
ence. 

I  am  permitted  to  say  that  the  quick  signal  for  the 
loudest  and  most  prolonged  applause  was  given  by  a  pair 
of  small,  fair  hands  up  in  the  trellised  box  of  the  Court 
Ladies; — and  it  was  given  when  the  speaker  said,  after 
enumerating  the  great  qualities  of  the  Religion  of  Moham- 
med, "but  there  is  a  great  black  spot  across  the  brow  of 
Islam : — Polygamy." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

TURNING   DERVISHES. 

WE  went  to  "old  Cairo''  to  see  the  Turning  Der- 
vishes who  are  certainly  one  of  the  most  curious 
of  the  numerous  religious  orders  of  Islam.  Within  a  gar- 
den there  were  about  forty  men  and  boys  standing  around 
the  edge  of  a  raised  platform  adjoining  a  religious  house. 
They  were  of  all  ages,  from  youths  of  twelve  to  old  men 
of  eighty,  and  of  all  classes  and  callings, — all  clad  in  divers 
garbs  and  scrupulously  clean.  They  are  ascetics  and  may 
be  called  monks  in  their  way,  yet  they  are  all  married  men ; 
for,  as  the  family  is  the  basis  of  all  society  in  Islam,  an  un- 
married man  or  woman  is  an  anomaly  almost  unknown. 
Neither  position  nor  poverty,  color  nor  condition,  prevents 
marriage;  but  illness  alone. 

In  spite  of  prima  facie  evidence  that  mystery  envelops 
the  sublimest  truths,  we  are  prone  to  distrust  what  we  do 
not  understand ;  therefore^  that  this  strange  religious  exer- 
cise  to  which  these  Dervishes  give  themselves  may  be  some- 
what comprehensible,  I  will  explain  its  mystic  origin  as 
given  to  me  by  Prince  Malcom-Khan,*  that  distinguished 
Persian  diplomat  and  scholar,  who,  though  an  Armenian 
Christian,  is  perhaps  the  most  competent,  and  certainly  the 
most  sympathetic  interpreter  of  Islam  in  the  Occident. 

The  founder  of  the  Order  of  Turning  Dervishes  is 

*  Persian  Ambassador  to  England,  France,  Italy,  and  most  of  the  other 
European  nations. 


TURNING  DERVISHES.  221 

Djelal-el-Dine  Roumi,  the  most  celebrated  mystic  poet  of 
Persia  and  Asia,  who  lived  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  is 
held  in  great  veneration  by  the  Turks,  being  considered 
a  prophet  by  all  the  philosophical  schools  of  the  Orient. 
One  day,  or  rather  one  night,  Djelal-el-Dine  Roumi  was 
wandering  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  and  musing  on  the 
wonders  of  the  created  worlds  revolving  about  himln'the 
firmament,  when  his  ear  caught  the  rhythmic  and  melo- 
dious sounds  of  a  hammer  beating  upon  an  anvil.  He  in- 
voluntarily followed  the  sound,  and  soon  found  himself 
within  the  dark  enclosure  of  a  blacksmith's  shop  where  a 
stalwart  smith  was  beating  red-hot  iron  that  sent  off 
bright  scintillations  into  the  darkness,  which,  as  he  turned 
and  re-turned  his  iron,  produced  a  radiating,  gyratory 
movement  of  such  exquisite  beauty  that  the  poet  became 
fascinated,  and  soon  so  spell-bound  that,  under  the  mys- 
terious attraction  there  occurred  a  psychical  phenomenon, 
which  remains  inexplicable.  The  religious  mystic  was  un- 
consciously drawn  within  the  orbit  of  these  revolving 
scintillations  and,  borrowing  the  momentum,  began  to 
move  with  them,  keeping  the  rhythmic  measure  with  the 
musical  beating  of  the  hammer  upon  the  anvil.  Round  and 
round  he  moved  in  deepening  ecstacy  until  he  seemed  to 
be  uplifted  and  swung  among  the  revolving  spheres,  ob- 
livious of  self  and  earth.  Others,  too,  simple  folk,  looking 
in,  caught  the  weird  measure,  and  following  the  example 
of  their  beloved  and  venerated  poet,  went  moving  round 
with  him  under  the  fascinating  influence  until  the  spell 
was  broken  by  the  stopping  of  the  hammer  and  the  ending 
of  the  luminous  spectacle.  This  was  the  origin  of  the 
Turning  Dervishes,  and  is  obviously  of  a  hypnotic  spirit- 
ual nature.  Christianity  has  produced  many  analogous 
moods  of  worship;  the  Shaking  Quakers  in  central  New 
York,  the  Oscillating  and  Shouting  Negroes  of  the  South- 
ern States,  the  Tremblers  in  France,  the  Dance  of  the 


222  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Great  Spirit  of  the  American  Indians,  the  religious  dances 
in  the  churches  in  Abyssinia,  and  also  in  Spain,  which  are 
practised  there  even  to  this  day; — dating  undoubtedly 
from  David,  the  sweet  singer  and  poet-king  of  Israel,  who 
danced  before  the  Lord  to  his  own  enrapturing  music. 
Poetic  and  mystic  natures  are  instinctively  affected  by 
rhythm  or  measure  in  musical  movement,  hence  the  be- 
witching, and  often  irresistible  charm  of  the  dance;  and 
there  may  be  a  deeper  analogy  than  people  think  between 
the  whirling  waltzers  and  the  Turning  Dervishes; — and 
more  than  one  dancing  fanatic  of  the  gay  and  giddy  world 
has  avowed  a  worshipful  sentiment; — one  young  lady  as- 
suring me  that  she  prayed  in  waltzing.  The  baton  in  the 
hand  of  the  chef  d'orchestre  produces,  not  only  upon  the 
waiting  musicians,  symptoms  of  harmonious  contagion, 
but  is  often  communicated  to  the  audience  before  a  note 
is  sounded  upon  the  instruments.  A  sympathetic  note  of 
a  violin,  or  a  street-organ  will  sometimes  set  people  dan- 
cing in  spite  of  themselves.  I  know  a  Christian  lady, 
though  opposed  to  dancing  generally,  frequently  engages 
an  organ-grinder  for  an  hour  beneath  her  window,  then 
locks  herself  up  alone  and,  as  she  says,  "dances  it  out  and 
feels  better  for  a  week  after !" 

Now  we  turn  back  to  the  Dervishes.  They  formed  a 
hollow  square  in  which  a  few  musicians  were  seated,  keep- 
ing low  and  melancholy  measure  on  a  tambourine,  a 
stringed  instrument,  and  a  flute.  In  their  midst  stood 
a  leader  who,  at  a  signal  began  slowly  moving  his  head 
backwards  and  forwards,  faster  and  faster,  all  the  others 
imitating  him ; — then  the  whole  body  began  to  move,  bend- 
ing backwards  and  forwards,  lower  and  lower,  until  the 
long  hair  of  the  most  venerable  swept  the  ground.  Through 
it  all  there-  was  a  low  guttural  sound  of  heavy  cadenced 
breathing, — the  rapidity  of  the  movement  ever  increasing ; 
—then  a  sudden  stop  in  the  music  and  an  instantaneous 


TURNING  DERVISHES.  223 

halt  with  the  Dervishes, — then  a  swaying  movement  from 
side  to  side  —  and  lastly  the  turning  movement  began. 
Round  and  round,  faster  and  faster  they  moved,  deeper  and 
deeper  the  breathing,  which  at  length,  with  the  increasing 
velocity  becomes  to  a  looker-on,  sometimes  painfully  con- 
tagious. Even  little  children  who  could  scarcely  walk, 
pressed  forward  to  be  taken  up  in  the  arms  of  some  turner 
to  join  in  the  rite  and  be  whirled  within  the  mystic  circle. 
Thus  they  are  taught,  without  words  or  precept,  this 
strange  mode  of  prayer  and  worship. 

An  unquestionable  and  profound  religious  atmosphere 
pervades  this  extraordinary  rite,  which  is  necessarily  in- 
comprehensible to  those  who  feel  no  religious  sympathy 
with  what  is  odd  or  eccentric;  and  to  a  common  sightseer 
it  seems  ridiculous.  But  when  we  remember  that  this  is 
the  only  mode  of  expression  given  to  this  humble  and  ig- 
norant people  who  are  profoundly  religious,  with  very  sen- 
sitive nervous  organism, — without  resource,  knowledge, 
or  experience;  and  that  this  is  their  weekly  prayer  meet- 
ing, and  all  who  join  in  this  ceremony  give  evidence  thereby 
of  their  need  of  divine  help,  and  the  seeking  of  perfec- 
tion through  the  grace  of  God;  the  rite,  though  exagger- 
ated to  us,  becomes  respectable  and  even  imposing.  We 
were  very  much  ashamed  of  most  of  the  traveling  Chris- 
tians present;  but  felt  grateful  for  the  tears  of  one  old 
sympathetic  Russian  lady,  and  to  a  distinguished  looking 
Jew  who  joined  in  the  chant.  The  ceremony  lasted  about 
an  hour.  On  the  part  of  the  Dervishes,  all  was  orderly, 
decent  and  respectful.  Not  so  with  many  of  the  200  cu- 
rious lookers-on,  some  of  whom  were  surprised  that  there 
was  no  entrance-fee  nor  collection  taken  up;  especially  as 
comfortable  seats  were  offered  them  by  the  polite  Moslems 
in  attendance.  But  money  under  no  circumstances  enters 
into  the  cult  of  Mussulmans.  (An  excellent  object-lesson 
for  us.) 


224  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

But  how  these  Dervishes  could  go  through  this  reli- 
gious ceremony,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  this  crowd 
of  unbelieving,  deriding,  and  sneering  Christians,  was  the 
most  astounding  instance  of  the  virtue  of  forbearance  and 
tolerance,  that  could  be  given  to  the  world !  When  the 
ceremony  was  ended,  we  sent  into  the  house  to  ask  the 
Sheik  if  he  would  receive  us.  We  were  at  once  ushered 
into  a  large  room,  very  simple  and  very  clean,  where  we 
were  welcomed  by  the  presiding  Sheik  who  gave- us  most 
interesting  information  concerning  the  order.  With  Mus- 
sulmans, there  is  a  total  absence  of  all  cant  or  superfluous 
expressions  of  piety.  Hospitality,  even  among  these  poor 
people,  is  an  incumbent  and  practised  virtue.  Delicious 
coffee  was  offered  us  at  once  by  the  Dervishes  who  had  just 
participated  in  the  turning  service,  and  all  were  glad  to 
have  us  among  them — and  we  were  happy  to  be  there.  Ah ! 
how  religion,  even  in  its  most  unlike  expressions,  unites 
and  warms  hearts — as  nothing  else  can  do! 

A  few  days  later  we  received  the  visit  of  the  Sheik 
Superior  of  the  Dervishes  in  Egypt,  who  resides  in  Cairo: 
Mohammed  Tewfik-el-Bakr,  descendant  of  Abou  Bakr,  the 
successor  of  the  Prophet,  and  of  Fatima,  his  daughter. 
This  office  and  title  are  hereditary.  When  our  host, 
Ahmed  Chefik  Bey,  announced  this  distinguished  visitor, 
it  needed  no  stretch  of  imagination  to  see  the  weird,  long- 
bearded  old  Arab  Sheik  with  haggard  visage,  clothed  in 
sackcloth,  and  perhaps  turning,  turning  all  the  time;  but 
lo !  there  appeared  a  fair  gentleman  of  courtly  appearance 
and  richly  dressed — an  accomplished  man  of  the  world, 
about  thirty  years  old,  but  looked  younger.  He  was  a 
learned  man  and  had  traveled  a  great  deal.  He  had,  I 
fear,  read  overmuch,  for  he  knew  as  much  of  the  school 
of  German  Infidel  writers  as  he  did  of  ancient  and  modern 
history  and  the  classics, — and  these  he  knew  well.  He 
spoke  the  principal  European  tongues  and  divers  Oriental 


TURNING  DERVISHES.  225 

ones.  With  our  host,  we  accepted  the  invitation  to  dine 
with  him  with  great  pleasure.  His  residence  is  one  of 
the  finest  palaces  in  Cairo,  and  furnished  a  la  franc,  ais. 
He  must  be  very  rich,  as  his  position  entails  great  expense. 
Tall,  well-trained  native  domestics  served  an  excellent 
dinner  which  was  a  happy  combination  of  French,  Arabic, 
and  Turkish  cuisines.  Delicate  in  health,  he  is  still  -un- 
married, and  lives  with  his  mother  who  sent  me  word  by 
her  son  that  she  would  be  happy  if  I  would  call  upon  her, 
which  I  did  a  few  days  later.  Her  harem  is  in  a  separate 
part  of  the  palace,  in  vast  and  magnificent  apartments,  with 
many  immense  mirrors,  a  rare  thing  in  Moslem  houses. 
I  found  a  fair,  richly  dressed  lady,  but  with  simple  elegance 
and  perfect  taste,  which,  with  her  refined  manners,  be- 
trayed the  high-born  lady  of  Constantinople,  most  probably 
of  Circassian  extraction.  She  was  a  widow  and  devoted 
•  to  her  son  and  her  religion.  No  Christian  lady  could  ex- 
press higher  moral  sentiments  and  more  ardent  desire  for 
the  proper  education  of  youth,  and  the  maintenance  of 
charitable  relations  among  all  believers,  and  for  universal 
peace. 

During  the  great  fast  of  the  Ramadan,  when  vigil  is 
kept  late  into  the  night,  this  Chief  of  the  Dervishes  has 
an  immense,  warmly  quilted  and  embroidered  tent  put  up 
in  his  vast  garden,  where  hundreds  of  devout  men  meet 
for  religious  exercise:  singing,  praying,  and  speaking. 
The  Sheik  invited  us  to  attend  one  of  these  meetings  near 
midnight,  and  we  were  greatly  edified.  What  impresses 
us  most  deeply  among  all  Moslems  is  their  absolute  equal- 
ity and  simple  fraternity — united  with  perfect  decorum  and 
respect. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  COPTIC   CHURCH. 

^HAT  the  God  Unique  was  vaguely  revealed  to  the 
-I  ancient  Egyptians  long  before  He  was  worshiped 
by  Israel,  as  the  Divine,  Personal  Father,  we  have  ample 
proof  in  archaic  stone  and  script.  It  is,  therefore,  very 
possible  that,  by  spiritual  atavism,  psychological  evolution, 
or  Divine  direction, — as  one  may  choose  to  call  it, — a 
latent  auxiliary  to  monotheistic  faith  was  found  by  the' 
Hebrews,  in  the  ancient  mythology  of  Egypt,  during  their 
long  sojourn  there,  where,  as  in  India,  and  the  great 
Druidic  forests  of  Gaul,  and  those  of  the  American  Indians, 
as  well  as  in  Athens,  later  on, — there  existed  the  inherent 
and  inevitable  seeking  of  the  human  soul  for  "The  Un- 
known God." 

The  Coptic  Church — which  numbers  700,000  souls  to- 
day— is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  Apostolic  foundations.  His 
Holiness,  Abba  Ciryle  V,  the  present  Patriarch,  is  the  un- 
interrupted and  undisputed  successor  of  St.  Mark.  This 
Church  is,  therefore,  the  primitive  Church  of  Egypt,  as 
its  name  implies:  Copt  meaning  Egyptian.  It  certainly 
is  the  oldest  Church  in  the  world — older  than  the  Apostles, 
as  it  was  founded  by  Mary,  the  Virgin  mother,  who  carried 
the  whole  Church  in  her  arms  when  she  fled  into  Egypt.* 
During  the  great  Moslem  crusade,  and  since,  large  num- 
bers of  Copts  became  Mussulmans. 

*  The  wonderful  prophecy  in  chapter  xix  of  Isaiah  should  be  consulted. 


THE  COPTIC  CHURCH.  227 

One  of  our  first  visits  in  Cairo  was,  very  naturally,  to 
its  oldest  Christian  edifice.  It  was,  therefore,  with  pro- 
found religious  interest  that  we  drove  out  of  the  whirling, 
noisy  capital,  through  the  scoria  of  an  ancient  world,  into 
the  solemn  and  sordid,  dilapidated  "Old  Cairo." 

A  great  modern  building — from  five  hundred  to  a  thou- 
sand years  old — stands  amid  ruins  and  rubbish  over  the 
spot  where  tradition  places  the  resting-place  of  the  Holy 
Family. 

With  eyes  open  and  reason  on  the  alert,  we  are  not  slow 
to  detect  fraud  and  error;  but  we  do  not  belong  to  the 
category  of  captious  sceptics  who  encumber  the  way  of  all 
serious  travelers,  as  well  as  reason  and  history,  with  doubt 
and  pretentious  criticism.  Concerning  this  case  of  Tra- 
ditional History,  it  must  be  admitted  that  anything  which 
breaks  into  the  common  order  or  circumstance  of  life — 
such  as,  for  instance,  the  arrival,  in  any  neighborhood 
of  any  country,  of  a  family — a  husband,  wife,  and  child- 
fleeing  persecution  and  death — would  be  an  event  not  likely 
to  be  hidden  or  soon  forgotten.  The  fact  of  their  being 
strangers  from  a  far  country  would  add  to  the  importance ; 
and  when  the  persecutor  was  a  great  king  like  Herod,  the 
fact  would  become  history.  So  we  went  down  into  the 
sub-crypt  of  three  superposed  churches  quite  willing  to 
believe  that  it  was  here  the  Holy  Family  came  and  dwelt ; 
—in  this  rock-roofed  dwelling  in  the  sands  of  the  desert 
beside  the  Nile :  Mary  the  Virgin,  Joseph  her  spouse,  and 
the  Infant  Jesus. 

Most  interesting  is  this  sand-buried  church ; — and,  con- 
sidering its  antiquity,  well  preserved ; — but  it  was  not  here 
they  dwelt, — we  must  go  deeper  into  the  past,  and  deeper 
into  the  earth — down  a  steep  stone-stair,  until  we  are  pre- 
vented by  water  from  going  further.  The  ebb  of  the  an- 
nual inundation  of  the  Nile  had  not  yet  receded  to  its  bed, 
and  the  floor  of  this  church  was  at  least  a  foot  under  the 


228  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

clear  sparkling  water, — so  that  we  could  venture  only 
part  way  down  the  steps ; — but  the  acolyte  who  accom- 
panied us  held  aloft  a  torch,  and  we  could  discern  its  pro- 
portions and  main  detail.  His  explanation  was  very  touch- 
ing, even  if  it  was  not  all  verified  by  history;  as,  for  ex- 
ample, when  he  said:  "The  altar  yonder  is  where  the 
Mother  and  Child  slept." 

I  hope  the  serious  reader  will  forgive  me  for  passing 
abruptly,  at  this  point,  from  a  grave  to  an  amusing  inci- 
dent, which,  however,  has  its  lesson.  The  acolyte,  being 
barefooted  as  is  the  custom  on  entering  holy  places,  pre- 
ceded us  with  the  torch  and  stepped  down  into  the  water, 
while  we  remained  standing  on  the  last  dry  steps.  When 
we  expressed  our  regret  that  we  could  not  approach  the 
altar  nearer,  the  young  man  held  up  a  pair  of  sandals 
which  he  carried  in  his  left  hand,  and  innocently  remarked : 
"Oh,  you  may  come  with  me  if  you  like,  and  examine  all ; 
you  have  only  to  put  on  these  sandals."-  -To  hide  our  smiles 
and  safeguard  decorum,  I  fear  we  ascended  the  steps 
rather  precipitously.  It  was  an  amusing  object-lesson  in 
a  holy  place.  The  letter  of  the  law  remains  harmless  and 
sometimes  even  ridiculous, — and  may  become  so  habitual 
and  indelible  that  even  the  inundations  of  the  Nile  cannot 
obliterate  it.  The  water  mattered  little  to  this  devout 
Christian,  if  only  our  shodden  feet  did  not  desecrate  the 
floor  of  the  holy  place ! 

Well,  well, — we  must  not  "kill"  with  our  "spirit"  mak- 
ing it  harder  than  the  "letter"; — so  we  will  excuse  the 
young  zealot,  and  respect  and  love  the  old  Coptic  church 
which  has  so  steadfastly  kept  the  faith  which  Mary  and 
Joseph  brought  here  into  this  land  of  the  Unknown  Past. 

As  we  came  away  wre  were  sorry  to  see,  a  little  hand, 
on  which  the  Coptic  cross  was  tattooed,  stretched  out  ask- 
ing for  backsheesh. 

The  reflections  as  we  drove  away  from  the  ancient 


THE  COPTIC  CHURCH.  229 

Coptic  church,  amid  the  ruins  of  Cairo,  and  through  the 
heavy  sand,  were  in  this  wise:  There  is  an  infiltration  of 
Living  Water  in  the  old  Churches, — borne  in  silently  by 
the  swelling  tide  of  the  Great  River  of  Divine  Progress 
from  the  Upper  Country, — from  that  undiscovered  region 
of  Infinite  Purpose — and  their  altars  are  in  danger, — and 
worshipers  can  scarcely  venture  in ; — unless  they  have  the 
courage  to  go  in  boldly  and  barefooted  as  did  the  Coptic 
acolyte ; — for  if  you  venture  in,  shod  in  your  modern  shoes, 
you  do  it  at  your  risk; — and  when  the  churches  are  inun- 
dated, traditional  sandals  are  a  subterfuge!  But  be  not 
misled  by  wiseacre  acolytes,  or  ignorant  guides,  who  say: 
"Oh,  it  is  only  a  periodical  overflow,  it  will  soon  pass 
away  and  we  shall  still  maintain  our  ancient  base-line." 
These  acolytes,  and  would-be  prophets,  are  mistaken,  they 
are  ignorant  of  the  great  onward  march  in  all  God's  uni- 
verse— and  reason  thus:  "When  Mary  and  Joseph  came 
to  Egypt  with  The  Little  Child,  there  was  no  danger  of 
the  rising  tide:  their  dwelling  when  built,  was  safe  and 
solid,  and  we  will  never  abandon  it!"  But  with  the  im- 
mutable march  of  time  the  bed  itself  of  the  great  river 
has  risen!  If  God  has  changed  the  base  of  natural  phe- 
nomena, how  much  more  certainly  has  he  changed  the 
base  of  human  institutions ! — Still  men  and  Christians  go 
on  superposing  their  dwellings  and  churches,  (while  there 
is  so  much  building-room  on  the  earth!)  consenting  most 
reluctantly  to  abandon  their  substructures,  determined  to 
keep  to  old  customs,  old  habits,  and  old  errors,  with  the 
justly  venerated  old  rites  and  ceremonies,  while  God's  great 
river  of  science  is  steadily  raising  its  bed;  thus  caus- 
ing peril  and  disaster, — if  not  for  us,  certainly  for  our 
children,  or  our  children's  children.  Nature,  science,  and 
religion  form  the  tripod  on  which  rests  the  universe;  and 
if  one  of  the  feet  is  broken,  or  of  unequal  length,  the  unity 


230  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

of  resistance,  cohesion,  and  capacity  is  lost; — disaster  is 
inevitable. 

It  requires  no  study  of  philosophers'  books,  but  only 
our  own  personal  observation,  to  understand  that  though 
we  may  subjugate  sand  and  fire,  we  are  helpless  and  power- 
less in  the  midst  of  inundation;  for  water  must  seek  its 
level:  Nor  does  it  require  great  acumen  to  understand 
that  beneath  that  ungovernable  force  lies  a  hidden  and 
stronger  power  which  raises,  not  only  the  beds  of  rivers, 
but  the  floor  of  the  oceans;  and,  that  finally  our  modern 
Churches,  like  those  old  primitive  ones,  will  be  driven  to 
build  on  higher  ground  if  they  may  hope  to  maintain  a 
solid  basis  and  offer  standing-place  and  kneeling-room 
for  worshipers! 

Like  the  Nile,  which,  though  separated  by  the  Delta 
for  a  time,  flows  together  again;  so  science  and  religion 
must  eventually  unite  their  forces,  at  the  confluence  of 
Divine  events  and  human  transformations,  and  flow  deep 
and  strong  together,  out  into  the  unfathomable  sea  of  Hu- 
manity— bearing  new  men  in  new  ships  to  new  cities  filled 
with  new  life!  And  in  their  midst  will  be  Jerusalem— 
new  and  clean  and  holy ! 

[Be  still!  O  heart!  lest  you  break  by  the  tension  of 
waiting!] 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

COMMUNION    IN    THE    COPTIC    CATHEDRAL. THE    TEWFIK 

SOCIETY. COPTIC    WOMEN. 

IF  our  Star-day  in  Egypt  was  with  the  Pharaohs  at 
Thebes,  our  Sun-day  of  religious  experience  was  here 
in  Cairo;  and  it  will  remain  upon  record,  not  only  in  our 
hearts,  but  in  the  greater  book  of  Eternity. 

As  it  is  our  wont  in  the  following  of  Christ,  wherever 
we  go  we  keep  the  Holy  Feast  in  His  precious  remem- 
brance; and  being  of  His  Church — the  One,  True,  Holy, 
and  Catholic — we  are  perfectly  at  home  wherever  He 
dwells. 

Our  first  visit  in  Cairo  was  to  the  rector  of  the  Ang- 
lican Church  whose  Bishops,  English  and  American,  had 
been  our  Fathers  and  Visiting  Bishops  of  the  Gallican 
Church,  in  Paris,  for  many  years.  We,  however,  failed 
to  find  him  and  had  not  the  pleasure  of  making  his  ac- 
quaintance. But,  though  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  we 
found  the  "brethren"; — and,  as  we  had  always  held  the 
ancient  faith  of  Egypt  in  great  veneration,  we  decided  to 
go  to  the  Holy  Communion,  if  it  were  possible,  in  the 
Church  of  the  country.  We  knew  very  well,  however, 
that  intercommunion  with  the  Coptic  and  Western  Chris- 
tians was  not  admitted. 

Following  the  command  of  our  Master,  we  carry  our 
prayer  to  God  rather  than  to  the  Saints;  and  likewise  in 
the  Church  we  go  to  the  head  Minister  rather  than  to 
the  minor  clergy,  however  venerable  they  may  be; — so 


232  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

we  went  to  His  Holiness  the  Coptic  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria, who  usually  resides  in  Cairo,  the  capital  of  the  coun- 
try and  largely  composed  of  Copts.  We  carried  a  letter 
from  Nubar  Pasha,  and  were  accompanied  by  Labib  Ef- 
fendi,  Professor  of  Hieroglyphs  and  the  Coptic  language, 
who,  knowing  French  well,  acted  as  interpreter.  The 
venerable  Patriarch  received  us  as  became  a  Father  in  the 
Faith — with  most  kindly  expressions  of  Christian  wel- 
come ; — but  when  our  desire  for  communion  in  his  Church 
was  conveyed  to  him,  he  was  surprised  and  hesitated,— 
then  called  in  his  chief  theologian,  the  Rev.  Father  Philo- 
theos,  the  Ecclesiastical  Director  of  the  Coptic  College 
with  whom  we  spoke  in  Italian.  After  a  conference  be- 
tween them,  we  were  asked  if  we  wished  to  become  mem- 
bers of  the  Coptic  Church ;  to  which  we  replied  that  though 
we  held  his  ancient  Church  in  high  esteem,  we  had  no  such 
intention.  We  were  then  asked  why  we  wished  to  receive 
the  Holy  Communion  at  their  hands. 

Then  Pere  Hyacinthe  explained  that  we  were  citizens 
of  France,  Latin  Christians  of  the  ancient  Church  of  Gaul 
believing  in  One  Only  Church,  and,  though  travelers  in 
a  strange  and  distant  land,  we  felt  it  a  privilege  and  duty 
to  show  our  belief  in  this  unity  by  partaking  of  the  Holy 
Communion..  We  came  therefore  instinctively  with  love 
and  confidence  to  the  Church  of  the  country — and  to  its 
Chief  Pastor — asking  this  privilege.  Thereupon  the  ven- 
erable Patriarch  gave  us  welcome  in  the  name  of  Him 
whose  followers  we  all  are.  As  the  day  of  our  departure 
was  near,  we  could  not  remain  for  the  Sunday  services, 
so  we  were  invited  to  come  on  a  weekday  morning  for  an 
early  celebration. 

At  8  o'clock  on  the  morning  fixed  upon,  Labib  EfTendi 
called  and  drove  us  to  the  Cathedral.  In  answer  to  our 
expressed  regret  at  not  being  able,  as  we  much  preferred, 
to  join  in  the  greater  Communion  on  the  Lord's  day,  thus 


COMMUNION  IN  THE  COPTIC  CATHEDRAL.  233 

fully  keeping  the  Sacred  Feast — whose  name  implies  the 
presence  of  the  brethren — he  told  us  that  he  and  several 
of  the  clergy  would  partake  with  us.  We  were  gratified 
at  this,  remembering  that  though  we  be  but  two  or  three 
together  in  His  Name — His  Holy  Presence  is  guaranteed. 

In  passing  through  the  arched  entrance  which  shuts 
out  the  city,  and  into  the  large  enclosure  which  surrounds 
the  Cathedral,  the  College,  and  the  Patriarchal  palace, 
we  heard  the  sound  of  a  great  choir  and  saw  clouds  of  in- 
cense floating  out  through  the  windows  in  the  sweet  morn- 
ing air ; — and  were  much  surprised  when  we  were  met  by 
a  group  of  clergy,  laymen,  and  students,  all  of  whom  sa- 
luted us  with  a  warm  Christian  welcome  and  escorted  us 
to  the  great  Cathedral  which  was  filled  to  its  utmost  with 
many  hundreds  of  expectant  people!  So  great  was  our 
astonishment  that  we  asked  if  it  were  a  fete-day  in  the 
Coptic  calendar.  The  reply  was,  "No,  but  it  is  a  great 
festival  in  the  annals  of  Christianity  when,  for  the  first 
time,  Oriental  and  Occidental  Christians  come  together 
at  the  Sacred  Feast  of  our  Beloved  Lord." 

Among  the  assembly  were  Greeks,  Syrians,  Maronites, 
Romans,  Protestants,  Moslems,  and  Jews ;  all  being  drawn 
together  by  Christian  sympathy.  I  write  what  I  mean: 
for  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  Jews  as  well  as  of  the 
Moslems  is  the  Christ-sentiment  of  Brotherhood. 

The  emotion  which  seized  us  as  we  crossed  the  thresh- 
old of  this  ancient  Cathedral  was  very  profound.  We  were 
escorted  by  the  clergy  up  through  the  passage,  kept  open 
by  the  pressing  throng,  that  led  us  to  that  "Altar  to  the 
Living  God,"  which  should  remain  in  Egypt  and  of  which 
the  prophet  had  written  4000  years  before,  "...  .There 
shall  be  an  Altar  to  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  Land  of 
Egypt — and  a  pillar  at  the  border  thereof.  .  .  ."* 

*  Pompey's  Pillar  stands  on  its  borderland  at  Alexandria.  (See  Isaiah, 
XIX,  19'.) 


234  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

The  great  edifice  was  filled  with  melody  of  plaintive 
Oriental  music,  and  the  air  with  incense;  and  as  my  eyes 
followed  the  cloud  upward,  I  saw  the  high  latticed  gallery 
for  women  filled;  and  bethinking  myself  that  I,  too,  was  of 
their  number,  noticed  for  the  first  time  that  I  was  the  only 
woman  in  the  body  of  the  church;  and  wondered  where 
my  place  should  be. 

(Here,  not  in  revolt  against  this  Jewish  custom  still 
preserved  in  Christian  churches,  but  with  ineffable  satis- 
faction,— I  dare  say,  with  something  of  inspiration, — my 
mind  went  back  to  Her  who  came  to  this  friendly  land 
nearly  twenty  hundred  years  ago,  fleeing  an  enemy  greater 
than  prejudice  and  error :  death  for  Her  Precious  Babe— 
to  Her  the  young,  loving  Virgin  Mother,  carrying  in  Her 
protecting  arms  the  whole  Eternal  Church !  and  I  asked 
within  myself:  Why  should  her  sisters  be  thus  set  apart 
and  hidden  in  the  worship  of  Her  Son? — And  my  reason, 
and  my  faith,  and  my  heart  said:  This  should  not  be!) 

I  was  willing,  however,  in  this  grand  moment,  if  not 
as  a  woman,  at  least  as  a  Christian,  to  take  the  humblest 
seat  and  the  least  visible  place.  I  said  to  a  deacon  beside 
me:  "Pray  do  not  let  me  embarrass  you  in  any  way — but 
put  me  where  you  like — I  am  only  too  happy  to  be  present 
anywhere."  To  this  he  replied  with  emphasis :  "You  and 
your  husband  are  one — and  what  God  has  joined  together, 
let  no  man  put  asunder — and  certainly  not  in  His  Divine 
Presence." 

The  Coptic  Altar,  as  in  all  the  Oriental  churches,  stands 
in  the  sanctuary  behind  the  Holy  Screen  to  which  broad 
steps  lead  up.  And  now  we  approached  a  large  carpet 
before  the  Holy  of  Holies,  upon  which  no  dust  of  shodden 
feet  may  fall.  An  attendant,  stooping,  put  on  over  my 
shoes  a  pair  of  sandals,  and  would  have  done  so  for  my 
husband,  but  the  latter  insisted  upon  removing  his  shoes 
as  did  all  others  present  near  the  Altar.  In  the  middle  of 


COMMUNION   IN  THE  COPTIC  CATHEDRAL.  235 

this  carpet  were  placed  two  great  arm-chairs  which  we 
were  invited  to  occupy.  As  seats  are  seldom  used  in 
Oriental  churches,  where  worshipers  stand  or  kneel,  we 
sat  but  little,  save  during-  the  sermon  and  only  when  a 
priest  begged  us  so  to  do. 

It  seems  almost  a  sacrilege  to  even  attempt  to  give  a 
description  of  what  was  so  indescribably  sacred.  It  is 
very  certain  I  should  utterly  fail  in  conveying  any  concep- 
tion of  our  emotion.  Compared  to  this,  the  outward  detail 
though  so  grand  and  impressive,  is  naught! — The  high 
arched  Cathedral,  the  massive  stone  pillars,  the  great 
windows,  and  the  pressing  mass  of  worshipful  people,— 
are  all  vague  memories.  But  I  can  never  cease  to  see 
vividly  that  choir  of  blind  students  who  stood  on  either 
side  upon  the  broad  steps  of  the  Altar,  like  the  Holy  Choir 
upon  the  steps  of  the  Heavenly  Throne, — their  sightless 
eyes  turned  upward  to  that  great  Light  which  illumines 
every  soul  that  chants  the  Glory  of  Jehovah ! 

The  venerable  Patriarch  was  on  his  throne  at  the  right 
of  the  Sanctuary,  and  in  the  middle  was  the  High  Priest 
officiating.  The  service  in  the  Coptic  tongue,  is  chanted 
and  sung,  not  only  by  the  choir,  but  by  the  whole  congre- 
gation, who  use  no  books,  as  all  the  Liturgy  is  known  by 
heart  from  childhood.  Some  parts  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
Creed  were  first  repeated  in  Coptic,  then  in  Arabic,  that 
all  might  understand.  The  service  was  long — I  washed  it 
had  been  longer — and  certainly  the  most  beautiful  I  ever 
witnessed!  All  was  full  and  complete,  in  perfect  order 
and  harmony,  yet  without  the  least  suggestion  of  studied 
ceremony.  Everything  was  natural,  spontaneous,  and  im- 
pressive. There  was  no  superfluous  going  and  coming, 
nor  excessive  genuflexions  and  crossing; — all  was  simple, 
sober,  and  sacred.  The  vestments  were  very  elaborate, 
Oriental,  most  beautiful,  and  becoming — with  a  suggestion 
of  the  Synagogue  in  its  ancient  grandeur.  They  were 


236  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

worn  with  that  grace  and  dignity  which  characterize  natu- 
ral simplicity  and  true  worship. 

A  sermon  was  preached  in  Arabic,  in  the  middle  of 
which,  and  to  our  surprise — but  not  in  the  least  to  our 
discomfiture — the  preacher  looked  straight  at  my  husband 
and  asked  in  Italian,  with  a  clear  voice,  amidst  a  most 
solemn  silence :  "Padre  Giacinto,  Crede  Lei  in  Nostro  Sig- 
nore  Gcsu  Crist  o?"  (Father  Hyacinthe,  do  you  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?)  To  which  the  Pere  replied,  in 
a  strong  full  voice  "Si,  lo  credo"  (Yes,  I  believe).  Then 
turning  to  me,  he  repeated  the  same  question  in  the  same 
tongue:  "Madame  Hyacinthe  Loyson,  do  you  believe  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?"  to  which  I  replied  in  Italian,  "Yes, 
I  believe." 

Our  hearts  were  filled  with  a  great  unexpected  joy  to 
thus  make  public  confession,  and  amid  divers  believers  of 
different  lands,  of  our  faith  in  Christ  and  our  love  for  the 
ancient  Church  of  Egypt !  All  was  so  natural  and  in  such 
perfect  harmony  with  the 'sublime  occasion  and  the  majestic 
ceremony  that  it  seemed,  not  only  a  renewal  of  our  primi- 
tive Christian  faith,  but  a  broader,  higher  entrance  into 
the  great  family  of  the  faithful  than  we  had  ever  experi- 
enced before. — How  sublime  this  All-Sufficient  Confession 
of  Faith:  ONE  GOD — ONE  SAVIOUR — ONE  CHURCH.  .  .  . 

Then  the  High  Priest  withdrew  within  the  Sanctuary 
and  we  knew  the  consecration  was  beginning,  according  to 
the  most  ancient  rite.  The  congregation  were  standing  in 
silent  prayer  when  the  veil  was  drawn,  and  he  came  forth 
and  beckoned  to  my  husband  to  enter  within  the  Sacred 
Precinct  for  the  Communion.  Knowing  that  no  woman 
enters  there,  I  was  filled  with  astonishment  when,  the 
next  moment,  the  High  Priest  returned  and  beckoned  me 
to  enter  also!  Fearing  1  might  be  mistaken — for  I  now 
doubted  my  senses — I  hesitated,  when  two  deacons  ad- 
vanced and  bade  me  enter. 


COMMUNION  IN  THE  COPTIC  CATHEDRAL.  237 

It  seemed  to  me  that  my  feet  had  lost  their  volition, 
and  that  I  was  borne  within  the  Holy  of  Holies  by  an 
Angelic  Host — as  the  choir  chanted  a  Halleluiah!  My 
husband  was  already  robed  in  a  priest's  long  white  Sur- 
plice, and  two  deacons  placed  on  my  shoulders  a  long 
white  mantle,  and  on  my  head  a  white  veil.  Gold  em- 
broidered napkins  were  placed  in  each  our  hands  for  tak- 
ing the  Chalice; — then  kneeling  beside  my  husband  at 
the  High  Altar,  the  High  Priest  gave  to  Pere  Hyacinthe 
and  then  to  me,  the  Most  Holy  Communion  of  our  Lord: 
—the  consecrated  bread  and  wine,  repeating  the  Biblical 
formula  in  Italian:  "This  is  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ — take  ye — eat  and  drink  of  it."  Then 
there  came  within  the  Sanctuary  many  priests  and  laymen 
and  joined  in  the  Holy  Feast. 

More  than  this  may  not  be  written  on  paper,  with  pen 
and  ink; — the  emotions  of  the  soul,  the  ineffable  peace, 
the  celestial  joy  of  this  most  Holy  Communion  with  Christ 
and  his  followers — this  strange  people — in  this  distant 
land.  . .  .words  are  weak  and  almost  sacrilege. 

When  all  was  finished  we  returned  into  the  nave  of  the 
cathedral,  exchanging  warm  congratulations  with  many 
friends  and  brethren  gathered  to  meet  us,  and  then  we  were 
conducted  to  the  Patriarchal  palace  hard  by,  where  the 
Venerable  Patriarch  awaited  us  in  his  private  parlor  for 
his  final  benediction,  which  was  given — we  kneeling,  and 
he  placing  his  hands  at  the  same  time  on  both  our  heads. 

It  was  with  full  hearts  that  we  reiterated  our  expres- 
sions of  consolation  and  gratitude;  and  as  we  bade  him 
our  final  farewell  he  presented  me,  first  with  a  beautiful 
Coptic  cross  of  golden  filigree  (which  they  told  me  had 
been  sent  him  by  Menelik,  the  Coptic  Emperor  of  Abys- 
sinia)— then  with  three  small  loaves  of  Blest  Bread  which 
had  lain  upon  the  altar,  and  from  which  had  been  taken 
that  for  Consecration.  This  bread  is  unleaven,  of  the  form 


238  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

—a  little  loaf — everywhere  used  in  the  Orient,  and  most 
probably  the  same  that  Jesus  used.  Upon  it  in  moulded 
Coptic  characters,  are  the  consecrating  words  of  the  Sa- 
viour. These  the  beloved  Patriarch  carefully  enveloped 
in  a  white  silken  napkin,  and  gave  me  to  carry  home.  Two 
of  the  loaves  have  been  broken  and  given,  as  sweet  souve- 
nirs of  intercommunion,  to  many  friends  of  diverse  lands 
and  different  churches,  and  some  have  been  laid  upon 
altars  in  the  West.  One  loaf  remains  on  our  Home  Altar 
—a  precious  relic  of  that  bright,  that  glorious  Sun-Day  of 
our  voyage  in  the  Orient,  and  of  its  Immortal  Circum- 
stance ! 

And  if  it  be  such  joy  to  two  travelers  in  these  times  of 
separation,  to  commune  thus  with  a  long-separated  Mother 
Church,  what  will  it  be  when  all  are  drawn  together  by 
the  Holy  Spirit? 

Let  us  not  then  be  weary  in  working,  hopeless  in  wait- 
ing, nor  languid  in  praying  for  this  end! — for  that  great 
Jubilee-Day  must  come !  When  ? — depends  upon  how  sin- 
cerely we  pray — how  confidently  we  hope, — and  how  faith- 
fully we  work! 

I  have  welded  that  golden  Coptic  cross  to  an  ancient 
silver  Latin  one,  which  I  have  worn  almost  all  my  life;— 
for  there  is  but  one  Cross. 


In  closing  this  poor  recital  of  a  grand  chapter  in  our 
lives,  I  am  not  afraid  to  prophesy  that  in  the  future  re- 
construction of  the  Church  of  Christ  throughout  the  world, 
this  great  Coptic  Emperor  of  Abyssinia — who  has  the  just 
and  Scriptural  title  King  of  Kings — or  his  successors,  who 
are  the  successors  of  Solomon,  will  bring  cyclopean  blocks 
of  black  well-polished  granite,  from  the  interior  of  Africa, 
for  the  building  of  the  solid  basis  of  Divine  Unity  among 
Christians! 


COMMUNION  IN  THE  COPTIC  CATHEDRAL.  239 

Our  communion  in  the  Coptic  Cathedral  at  Cairo  is  an 
earnest  of  that  glorious  day ! 

The  day  of  our  Communion  in  the  Egyptian  church 
the  telegraph  carried  the  news  all  over  the  world  that 
uPere  Hyacinthe  had  become  a  Copt!"  Two  days  after 
he  published  a  letter  in  the  Egyptian  newspapers  which 
put  the  matter  right ;  but  there  are  persons  to  this-  day 
who  still  maintain  that  we  are  ipso  facto  Copts ;  others  that 
we  are  Armenian,  or  Greek,  or  Maronite,  or  Protestant, 
Anglican,  or  Papist, — for  the  simple  and  very  good  reason 
that  we  love  them  all  and  frequent  their  churches  when  oc- 
casion offers,  being  therefore  Catholic,  Protestant,  and 
Evangelical.  But  we  are  so  accustomed  to  misrepresenta- 
tion that  if  every  one  told  the  truth  about  us  we  would 
scarcely  recognize  our  own  identity,  were  it  not  for  the 
central  consciousness  and  the  immutable  principle  of  faith 
which  we  carry  in  our  hearts. 

Before  we  left  Cairo,  a  reception  was  given  us  by  the 
"Coptic  Tewfik  Society,"  composed  of  leading  ecclesi- 
astics and  laymen, — men  of  science,  letters,  government 
offices,  finance,  etc. 

Tewfik  signifies  Progress — and  the  members  of  this 
society  do  it  honor.  Some  of  its  members  have  received 
medals  of  literary  merit  from  the  first  institutes  of  Europe ; 
one  has  just  received  the  medaillc  d'or  (golden  medal) 
from  that  of  France.  Their  Hall  of  reunion,  which  holds 
one  hundred  comfortably,  was  crowded  with  about  three 
hundred!  Happily  an  admirably  contrived  punka  sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling  kept  the  air  in  motion  and  made 
existence  possible. 

Pere  Hyacinthe  delivered  an  address,  after  which  he 
was  elected  Honorary  Member  of  the  Tewfik  Society  of 
Cairo,  and  duly  presented  with  a  printed  parchment. 

I  was  the  only  lady  present,  and  occupied  a  seat  on  the 
platform  beside  the  Rev.  Pere  Philotheos,  at  the  right  of 


240  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

the  President,  who  informed  me  in  a  nice  little  speech, 
that  though  the  Coptic  ladies  never  attended  public  meet- 
ings they  had  made  a  departure  from  their  exclusive  rule, 
and  a  company  of  their  wives,  mothers,  and  daughters 
were  waiting  to  receive  me  in  an  adjoining  room; — to 
which,  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  I  effected  an  entrance, 
so  packed  were  the  hall  and  stairs, — hundreds  of  people 
crowding  the  streets  outside. 

The  reception  by  the  Coptic  ladies  was  simple  and 
genuine,  and  we  were  friends  at  once.  Some  there  were 
who  spoke  French  and  we  got  on  very  well. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  among  the  Coptic  women  there 
is  an  impulse  for  learning  and,  unlike  the  Moslems,  a  de- 
cided disposition  on  the  part  of  the  younger  women  to 
discard  the  veil; — for  it  must  ever  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  veiling  of  women  is  not  an  exclusive  Moslem  custom, 
but  Oriental  and  common  to  all  save  the  Jews.  Yet  how 
paradoxical — for  in  the  Synagogue  they  still  sit  behind  a 
veil — apart  from  men. 

We  visited  the  Coptic  schools  and  colleges,  and  found 
them  excellent,  with  competent  teachers  and  professors, 
and  many  very  intelligent  pupils.  My  husband  was  asked 
to  address  the  French  class  and  I  the  English;  and  we 
were  certainly  surprised  at  the  learning  of  these  young- 
students. 

I  made  several  visits  to  Coptic  families  and  found  in- 
telligent, devoted,  Christian  wives  and  mothers;  and  who 
were  not  in  the  least  troubled  with  vain  or  worldly  ambi- 
tions. While  I  make  no  criticism  here  on  the  seclusion 
of  Moslem  women,  I  venture  to  say  that  I  believe  this  se- 
clusion of  Coptic  women  is  unreasonable  and  detrimental 
to  the  progress  of  this  Christian  people. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SECOND  VISIT  TO  THE   PYRAMIDS. LEAVING   CAIRO. 

AT  length  the  time  was  fixed  for  leaving  Cairo;  and 
we  must  visit  the  Pyramids  for  the  last  time. 

We  started  early  to  have  the  full  long  day,  and  with 
an  indescribable  elation  of  spirit,  joined,  in  crossing  the 
great  bridge  of  the  Nil-el-Nasr,  in  that  heterogeneous, 
nondescript,  sublime  caravan  of  human  and  animal  dis- 
proportions.— Nothing  like  it  in  the  wide,  wide  world! 
The  most  dignified  of  all  were  the  camels;  the  most  im- 
patient— the  tourists ;  the  most  philosophical — the  donkeys. 

We  drove  in  an  open  carriage  with  two  fast-flying 
Egyptian  bays,  an  Abyssinian  coachman  with  teeth  of 
ivory, — and  not  one  missing — as  his  broad  genial  smile 
amply  revealed.  Indeed  his  smile  was  so  remarkable  and 
his  whole  attitude  so  exuberant  with  happiness,  that  I  at 
length  called  to  him :  "Hassim  what  makes  you  so  happy  ?" 
Thereupon,  he  turned  around,  and  for  joy  could  scarcely 
sputter  it  out :  "Oh !  I  knows  all  'bout  it,  an'  I  knows  yous !" 

"About  what?"  we  asked. 

"Oh  the  Patrack!   (Patriarch)     .You  like  Copt--  O 
good!  ver'  good!     I  Copt — I  like  you,  an'  you  like  me— 
O,  ver'  good!" 

He  was  evidently  a  Copt  and  knew  of  the  ceremony  in 
the  Cathedral,  and  we  learned  that  it  was  known  by  every 
one  of  that  faith  in  Cairo  before  sunset  of  the  day  of  its 


242  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

occurrence — and  among  whom  there  was  general  felici- 
tation. 

It  was  with  an  intense  sentiment  of  Christian  frater- 
nity that  our  Abyssinian  brother  urged  on  his  little  flying 
bays, — and,  quite  unmindful  of  all  propriety,  often  turned 
trying  to  give  us  some  important  information  evidently 
forgotten  by  our  somewhat  nonplussed  Maronite  Chris- 
tian dragoman.  He  never  succeeded,  however,  but  he  was 
just  as  happy,  and  we  were  happy  also. 

We  also  had  a  footman:  a  Moslem  boy  in  tatters,  a 
regular  "rag-tag  and  bob-tail"  fellah,  who,  clinging  to 
the  springs  behind  the  carriage, — as  is  the  mode  in  Cairo, 
— his  variegated  petticoats  catching  the  wind  and  expand- 
ing into  a  prodigious  balloon, — gave  an  altogether  impo- 
sing appearance  to  our  magnificent  equipage,  not  to  be 
ignored  in  the  picturesque  and  classical  landscape  through 
which  we  sped.  After  having  left  the  multi-colored  and 
multifarious  caravan  we  entered  the  broad  quiet  avenue 
of  trees  which  shelter  the  highway  from  Cairo  to  the  Pyr- 
amids, and  began  to  breathe  in  the  day. 

The  sun  was  well  above  the  horizon  when  we  swept 
up  to  the  foot  of  the  great  builded  mountain,  where  we 
were  welcomed  by  the  refined  young  Sheik  and  the  army  of 
guides,  cameleers,  and  donkey-boys  who  hold  the  fort. 
The  welcome  of  some  was,  perhaps,  too  warm — as  the  day 
boded  hot. 

I  was  soon  on  the  back  of  a  tall  camel  and  under  full 
escort,  winding  through  the  deep  sand  down  to  the  Sphinx, 
where  we  were  photographed, — a  thing  to  be  done — con- 
science bound, — as  the  operator  assured  us  he  had  walked 
from  Cairo  to  be  there  in  time  to  take  us — and  he  did 
take  us — in — a  hurry,  as  you  see,  kind  reader. 

My  husband,  in  spite  of  splendid  health  and  unusual 
strength,  is  given  to  imprudence,  and  to-day  refused  alike 
both  camel  and  donkey,  and  even  a  guide, — preferring  the 


THE  PYRAMIDS. LEAVING   CAIRO.  243 

long  walk  in  the  heavy  sand  alone — a  sublime  spot  and 
unique  occasion  for  meditation.  Yet  nothing  could  deter 
the  pertinacious  group  from  acting  as  body-guard  until 
our  dragoman  gave  them  to  understand  that  he  was  a 
Christian  Sheik  and  wanted  to  be  alone  to  pray.  He  was 
left  to  solitude  instantly. 

Browning's  lines  flashed  through  my  mind: 

"He  prayed  and  I  was  afraid." 

And,  also,  Pere  Hyacinthe  still  maintains  the  monkish 
habit  of  often  going  bareheaded  when  walking  in  solitary 
places.  (The  Barefooted  Carmelites — his  ancient  Order 
—not  only  go  with  bare  feet,  wearing  low  sandals,  but 
with  shaven  and  bare  heads;  and  only  in  very  inclement 
weather  is  the  cowl  raised  over  the  head.)  So,  as  soon 
as  our  photographs  were  taken  and  just  as  we  descended 
into  the  Temple  of  the  Sphinx,  he  began  to  suffer  pre- 
monitory symptoms  of  sunstroke.  But  the  cool  shade  of 
the  huge  stone  walls  in  the  underground  edifice,  with  sev- 
eral hours  of  assiduous  care  and  rest,  quite  restored  him. 
The  guardian  of  the  Temple,  and  many  other  Moslems, 
were  incessant  in  their  attentions — providing  us  with  all 
the  bottles  of  Nile  water  we  could  use,  and  even  the  little 
children  desisted  from  asking  for  backsheesh  and  kept 
guard  all  day,  lest  we  should  be  disturbed.  They  also- 
kept  off  the  flies,  which  remain  a  plague  in  Egypt  to  this 
day.  When  we  had  eaten  our  lunch,  and  he  had  quietly 
entered  upon  his  afternoon  siesta,  I  could  not  resist  the 
supplications  to  go  up  to  the  Pyramid  with  an  escort  of 
guides  who  remembered  the  exhortation  I  had  given  them 
during  our  previous  visit,  concerning  wine,  tobacco,  back- 
sheesh, pertinacious  importunity,  etc.,  etc.,  and  who  had 
now  been  keeping  watch,  discreetly  hidden  among  the 
granite  blocks;  but  who  showed  their  appreciation  of  my 
former  effort  by  this  clinching  argument :  "Now  please  do 


244  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

come,  dear  mother,  and  preach  to  us  again!  this  is  your 
last  chance  as  the  father  is  asleep !" 

The  great  yellow  camel  knelt  with  something  of  com- 
placency in  his  demeanor — I  mounted  and  rode  back  to  the 
Pyramid  in  the  broiling  heat,  surrounded  by  an  army  of 
Arabs,  all  quiet  and  courteous.  The  sun  was  still  high  and 
cast  but  little  shade  on  the  north  side  of  the  great  Pyramid, 
and  owing  to  the  excessive  heat  of  the  day,  all  travelers 
but  myself  had  disappeared  and  I  found  myself  quite  alone 
with  the  delectable  army  of  guides  and  cameleers.  Bur- 
nouses were  spread  for  me  on  the  sand  and  on  the  huge 
stones  which  form  the  steps  of  this  man-made  mountain, 
where  a  high  cool  place  was  offered  by  a  venerable  sheik— 
and  also  a  score  of  ready  hands  to  help  me  reach  it.  Then 
all  those  who  spoke  any  other  tongue  than  Arabic,  offered 
me  their  services  as  interpreters.  Most  of  them  knew 
at  least  a  few  words  of  another  language,  and  some  knew 
French  or  English  quite  well,  with  a  little  German  and 
Italian  thrown  in  we  managed  to  understand  each  other. 
Everything  relating  to  the  Pyramids  was  recited  by  the 
guides  like  a  litany.  When  conversation  fell  into  unusual 
channels,  or  into  the  grave  one  of  religion,  our  dragoman 
put  it  all  into  sonorous  Arabic.  There  were  about  a  hun- 
dred men  and  boys,  and  I  was  struck  by  an  unusual  gravity 
on  all  their  faces,  and  soon  discovered  that  their  interest  in 
me  was  divided  by  a  general  discomf orture ;  and  in  a 
border  group,  I  noticed  a  violent  ringleader  of  an  ill-con- 
cealed dissension.  I  asked  the  cause  of  the  dispute  and  was 
told,  with  reluctance,  that  all  the  guides  were  in  trouble, 
and  as  it  was  the  beginning  of  Ramadan,  it  was  an  easy 
matter  to  loose  one's  temper — as  all  were  fasting. — Evi- 
dently this  one  noisy  fellow  had  forgotten  himself— a  rare 
occurrence  among  Arabs  or  fellahs.  There  were  ominous 
whisperings  near  me,  and  presently  my  dragoman  said, 
in  a  sort  of  pleading  tone :  "If  our  mother  would  speak 


THE  PYRAMIDS. LEAVING   CAIRO.  245 

to  him,  I  am  sure  his  head  would  cool  down  and  his  spirit, 
too,  would  keep  the  fast."  I  sent  to  ask  the  turbulent 
guide  if  he  would  kindly  come  to  me.  He  was  evidently 
surprised,  and  perhaps  not  altogether  pleased,  at  being 
thus  cut  short  in  his  forcible  argument;  but  he  did  not 
betray  any  ill  feeling  and  came  at  once.  I  asked  him  as  a 
"venerable"  guide  (I  think  he  was  about  thirty)  concerning 
something  of  his  most  important  calling.  He  was  far  too 
intelligent  not  to  understand  my  tactics,  and  far  too  reli- 
gious not  to  feel  his  fault;  but  we  understood  each  other 
at  once,  and  talked  freely  upon  the  spiritual  merits  of 
keeping  Ramadan,  of  which  I  heartily  approved,  and  soon 
we  became  not  only  good,  but  confidential  friends,  and 
he  was  as  quiet  as  a  lamb.  Then  my  dragoman  was  drawn 
off  and  spoken  with  aside,  but  soon  returned  to  say  that 
there  were  two  or  three  other  "ugly  fellows"  among  their 
number,  to  whom  I  was  also  asked  to  speak:  "an  old  and 
cruel  man,"  they  said,  "given  to  beating  younger  ones; 
but,"  they  insisted,  "as  he  was  an  old  man,  he  must  be 
respected"; — no  one  dared  gainsay  a  man  with  a  white 
beard;  as  age  is  always  respected  with  Mussulmans.  But 
I  was  "still  older,"  as  they  kindly  told  me  with  venerating 
salaams,  "old  enough  to  be  his  mother,"  (the  "ugly"  man 
seemed  to  be  about  sixty)  they  were  sure  I  could  work  a 
miracle.  I  invited  the  venerable  man  to  come  to  me.  He, 
too,  quite  understood, — for  these  fellahs  are  as  "quick"  as 
Yankees — and  when  I  told  him  how  necessary  it  was  for 
old  men  to  give  an  example  of  rectitude  and  gentleness, 
if  not,  with  all  these  modern  exhibitions  of  disrespect  and 
presumption  on  the  part  of  young  men — what  was  to  be- 
come of  the  world?  Whereupon  he  kissed  the  hem  of  my 
garment  and  took  up  and  continued  my  theme  to  the  listen- 
ing crowd  with  the  tact  of  a  modern  diplomat,  the  wisdom 
of  a  son  of  Solomon  (as  he  claimed  to  be)  and  the  gentle- 
ness of  a  disciple  of  St.  John. 


THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Meanwhile,  I  noticed  that  the  young  sheik,  sitting  apart 
with  pen  and  inkhorn,  was  writing  very  carefully  on  a 
large  sheet  of  paper  held  in  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and  scan- 
ning the  men  as  if  counting  them.  I  ventured  to  ask  those 
about  me  if  they  knew  what  he  was  writing.  I  now7  de- 
tected a  strong  hesitation  to  speak  on  their  part,  but  after 
some  rapid  words  exchanged  among  them,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing men  came  nearer  and  said  with  a  profound  salaam: 
"Ah,  very  venerable  mother,  you  have  come  to  us  in  a  day 
of  great  calamity !  and  we  are  so  cast  down  and  so  ashamed 
that  no  one  has  dared  to  tell  you ;  but,  as  I  know  that  Allah 
lias  sent  you  to  us,  and  it  was  for  this  reason  we  urged  you 
to  preach  to  us, — perhaps  you  can  give  us  some  words  of 
•consolation  to  carry  to  our  wives  and  mothers  who  are  in 
such  dark  sorrow  to-day!" 

I  assured  him  of  my  entire  sympathy  and  perfect  wrill- 
ingness  to  do  all  in  my  power  for  any  work  of  justice,  and 
then  he  said:  "You  may  have  seen  in  the  papers  that  one 
of  our  Guides  of  the  Pyramids  was  arrested  yesterday  for 
bad  conduct/'-— I  had  not,  and  he  went  on  to  tell  me  that 
as  there  was  perfect  solidarity  among  them; — if  one  was 
guilty  of  misdemeanor  and  condemned,  all  must  suffer 
punishment ;  "so,"  he  continued,  "to-morrow,  at  least  fifty 
of  us  must  go  to  prison !  And  what  disgrace  for  us — but 
above  all  for  our  parents!"  (It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  guides  are  an  important  body  in  Egypt,  and  es- 
pecially those  of  the  Pyramids  at  Cairo.)  The  sheik,  then, 
lie  informed  me,  was  taking  down  the  names  of  those  con- 
demned to  suffer,  though  innocent.  When  I  had  heard 
the  full  particulars  of  the  case,  I  asked  the  men  to  help  me 
down  from  my  high  seat  and  went  to  the  young  sheik 
who  rose  to  receive  me.  I  told  him  frankly  that  I  knew  of 
liis  trouble  and  embarrassment,  and  I  began  to  plead  for 
the  guides,  for  he  was  the  Judge  to  settle  the  case.  But 
evidentlv,  it  was  the  old  hard  law  of  Moses  we  had  to  deal 


THE   PYRAMIDS. LEAVING  CAIRO.  247 

with,  and  the  sheik  shook  his  head  and  said  politely,  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done.  I  was.  struck  by  the  firmness  of 
this  young  man  who  seemed  to  be  no  more  than  twenty- 
two  years  old.  He  was  fully  conscious  of  his  responsibil- 
ity, and  could  let  no  sentimental  persuasion  interfere  with 
his  duty.  Then  I  said:  "You  are  a  true  believer  in  the 
Prophet,  and  I  in  the  Messiah,  and  we  both  well  know  that 
the  Mercifulness  of  God  is  the  Highest  of  all  His  attrib- 
utes; and  every  chapter  of  your  Koran  begins  with  an 
appeal  to  Allah  'ever  clement  and  merciful!'  As  in  this 
we  are  of  one  faith  and  as  I  come  among  you  a  Christian, 
and  also  a  wife,  mother,  and  grandmother — advanced  in 
years,— and  as  it  is  the  great  feast  of  Ramadan — I  ask  you 
in  the  name  of  Him  who  is  Clement  and  Merciful,  to  let 
these  innocent  men,  for  this  time,  go  free." 

He  remained  silent  for  a  few  moments  with  his  eyes 
lowered  to  the  ground;— and  then  he  tore  the  paper  in 
twain! — There  was  a  sudden  stillness  all  about  the  Pyra- 
mid! I  clasped  the  courageous  young  sheik's  hand  and 
said :  "My  son,  I  thank  you  in  the  name  of  Allah !" 

Then  there  was  a  closing-in  about  me,  of  these  poor 
men,  and  what  expressions  of  joy  and  gratitude  on  their 
faces ! — and  words  of  thanks  enough  to  last  me  all  my  life. 
Then  they  asked  me  to  "preach  some  more  to  them"- 
which  I  did — from  the  high  pulpit  of  the  Pyramid.  At  the 
end  of  my  discourse  they  all  bound  themselves  into  a 
"temperance  and  anti-tobacco  league,"  promising  not  to 
follow  the  bad  example  of  travelers  against  whom  I  warned 
them  without  stint,  and  they  also  promised  to  show  greater 
obedience  to  their  parents,  and  to  keep  the  Ramadan  in 
the  "spirit"  as  well  as  in  the  "letter." 

The  temperance  pledge  was  almost  superfluous  with 

them  as  they  never  drink  wine  or  any  fermented  beverage 

—unless  induced  to  do  so  by  Christians !    As  to  the  tobacco 

—that  is  one  of  the  modern  pests  of  Egypt,  as  it  is  of  our 


248  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

countries,  and,  indeed,  of  the  whole  world; — but  I  hope 
a  good  many  of  my  friends  of  the  Pyramids,  have  kept 
their  promise. 

The  young  sheik  was  profound  in  his  thanks  for  what 
I  had  said,  and  asked  me,  as  did  all  the  men,  to  come  again 
with  assurance  that  they  would  never  forget  me  nor  that 
day, — and  I  know  they  never  will, — nor  shall  I.  They  will 
be  assured  of  this,  if,  perhaps,  they  read  these  lines  some 
day  as  they  sit  in  the  shadow  of  the  Great  Pyramid. 

At  parting,  an  old  sheik  of  the  Pyramids  gave  me 
what  he  called  a  "seal  to  seal  the  day,"  which  I  was  told 
was  a  lump  of  compact  and  petrified  manna. (?)  I  shall 
keep  it  in  remembrance  of  that  day,  and  also  as  a  sugges- 
tion of  the  great  cloud  of  manna  which  the  typhoon  of 
Egypt  swept  from  off  the  rich  fields  of  the  Delta  and 
across  the  Dead  Sea  into  the  desert  to  feed  the  children  of 
Israel  whom  Moses  was  leading  toward  Sinai. 

As  we  drove  back  to  Cairo  in  the  sweet  and  solemn 
gloaming,  there  was  a  different  spell  tipon  us  than  in  the 
early  morning.  The  young  bays  received  no  further  ur- 
ging onward; — the  little  tattered  footman  lay  cuddled  up 
at  the  feet  of  the  dark  immobile  coachman ; — the  dragoman 
had  nothing  more  to  say — nor  had  we.  Deep  unutterable 
gratitude  possessed  our  souls,  linking  them  with  every 
creature,  and  all  nature  to  the  dim  mysterious  Past  through 
the  incomprehensible  Present — adown  the  fathomless  ages 
of  aspiration  and  effort  of  the  Future — into  the  Absolute 
and  Eternal  Harmony.  . .  . 

Thus  we  were  borne  through  the  silent  twilight,  and 
into  the  soft  Egyptian  night .... 

We  tore  ourselves  away  from  Cairo; — and  I  do  not 
wonder  that  the  English  and  everybody  else  wish  to  remain 
there  forever! 

Many  friends  of  diverse  nations  and  religions:  Copts, 
Moslems,  Greeks,  Armenians,  Dervishes,  and  Babists; 


THE  PYRAMIDS. LEAVING   CAIRO.  249 

Maronites,  Catholics,  Romanists,  and  Protestants;  Ara- 
bians, French,  Americans,  English,  Syrians,  Persians,  and 
Turks; — came  to  the  train  with  presents — flowers  and 
many  loving  words  and  benediction — to  say  the  parting. 
A  venerable  sheik  among  them  said :  "You  came  in  doubt 
— but  you  brought  us  peace, — and  now  you  carry  away  our 
hearts !  Allah  will  surely  bless  you !" 

We  were  already  in  the  train  when  a  secretary  of  the 
Khedive  arrived  saying  that  Her  Highness,  the  Khedevea- 
Mother  would  be  pleased  to  see  me.  Alas!  I  could  only 
express  my  regrets  at  not  having  this  great  honor  and 
privilege — for  the  train  was  moving — and  the  dinner  with 
the  Governor  of  Alexandria  would  be  waiting,  and,  also, 
our  kind  host  at  the  station.  . .  ."Adieu,  adieu!  and  God 
willing — au  revoir!" 


For  a  better  idea  of  the-  profound  religious  sentiments 
which  actuated  our  Moslem  friends  in  all  this  fair  and 
loving  speech  of  adieux,  I  will  give  a  translation  from 
Arabic,  of  a  letter  to  Pere  Hyacinthe,  which  was  received 
just  before  we  left  from  leading  Moslems  in  Cairo: 

"MOST  VENERABLE  APOSTLE  OF  GOD  !— 

"A  few  of  the  representatives  of  the  large  audience 
who  were  present  at  your  conference  on  the  Reconciliation 
of  Christianity  and  Islam,  desire  to  express  their  unani- 
mous appreciation  of  the  rare  and  lofty  eloquence  which 
marked  your  discourse. 

"The  arguments  which  you  employ  to  dissipate  the  false 
prejudices  of  the  ignorant  classes,  and  of  a  certain  category 
of  European  fanatics,  have  won  for  you  the  gratitude  of 
all  sensible  people  who  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  hear 
you — and  more  particularly  of  the  Mussulmans. 

"You  are  aware  that  the  Mussulmans  believe,  as  do 
Christians,  in  all  the  Prophets  whom  God  has  sent :  Jesus, 


250  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Moses,  Abraham,  etc.,  etc.  They  believe  also  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  Jewish  and  Christian  religions,  though  they  do 
not  admit  certain  interpretations  given  to  the  records  of 
these  religions,  after  the  time  of  the  Prophets. 

"At  all  periods  a  great  number  of  Christians  have- 
agreed  with  the  followers  of  Mohammed  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  Islam,  but  the  great  majority  of  Christians  are 
opposed  to  the  Mussulmans  touching  the  secondary  part  of 
the  Moslem  belief:  that  which  regards  Mohammed  as  a 
Prophet  sent  of  God. 

"These  opponents  have  not  been  content  to  deny  the 
mission  of  this  great  Prophet,  but  they  have  even  carried 
their  rancor  so  far  as  to  speak  evil  of  his  works,  whose 
extent  they  do  not  know,  and  to  bring  against  his  memory 
those  false  accusations  which  you  have  attempted  to  re- 
fute. The  whole  Mussulman  world  and  every  friend  of 
peace  and  reconciliation  between  the  two  religions  hope 
that  you  will  declare  to  the  entire  European  and  Christian 
world  the  truth  which  you  have  been  brought  to  recognize ! 
We  are  convinced  that,  thanks  to  your  eloquence,  and  to 
the  sincerity  with  which  you  speak,  your  efforts  will  be 
crowned  with  success,  and  that  we  shall  soon  see  a  great 
number  of  Europeans  following  your  example  and  admit- 
ting the  undoubted  merits  of  the  Moslem  faith — merits 
which  no  reasonable  mind  could  possibly  deny. 

"Those  who  enter  upon  this  path,  when  once  freed 
from  that  hatred  which  has  estranged  them  from  Mussul- 
mans,— when  once  they  entertain  a  sentiment  of  sincere 
friendship,  and  feel  that  we  are  all  brethren  in  the  belief 
of  One  God — will  then  suffer  with  our  sufferings,  will 
interest  themselves  in  what  concerns  us,  and  will  wish 
for  Mussulmans  all  the  good  that  they  would  wish  their 
Christian  brethren,  and  will  hold  out  to  them  a  helping 
hand  in  misfortune. 

"Then,  only,  will  the  world  form  one  great  alliance  of 


THE   PYRAMIDS. LEAVING   CAIRO.  25! 

mutual  help  for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order — with- 
out which  humanity  can  find  no  happiness. 

"May  God  help  you  in  your  task  and  assist  you  to  find 
in  the  path  of  Truth  the  accomplishment  of  all  your  hopes." 

(Here  follow  the  signatures  of  a  large  number  of  the 
foremost  Moslem  citizens  of  Cairo,  headed  by  a  representa- 
tive of  the  venerable  Sheik-ul-Islam — who  is  the  leading 
professor  at  the  great  Mosque  of  El-Azar, — the  secretary 
of  His  Highness  the  Khedive,  etc.,  etc.) 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MISSIONS  AND   MISSIONARIES. 

I  HAVE  been  asked  so  repeatedly  what  I  think  of  mis- 
sionaries and  missionary  work  that  it  becomes  a  con- 
scientious duty  to  say  here  something  of  what  I  do  think 
— though  not  all — for  that  would  be- — if  not  uncharitable 
— at  least  unnecessary. 

Christ  did  not  found  the  Church; — that  was  the  work 
of  St.  Paul  and  the  Apostles.  But  He  did  found  the  great 
Universal  and  Apostolic  work  of  Missions.  He  com- 
manded His  disciples  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  preach 
the  Gospel :  His  Gospel — the  Redeeming  Gospel  of  Repent- 
ance and  Forgiveness;  the  practical  Gospel  of  building 
up  a  new  manhood  by  individual  conduct  and  virtue;  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  Divine  Fatherhood,  and  the  loving 
Gospel  of  Universal  Brotherhood ! 

From  what  I  have  heard  from  reliable  sources,  and 
from  what  I  have  seen  myself,  I  believe  another  Gospel 
than  this  is  often  preached,  and  another  fraternity  than 
this  is  often  practised :  the  travested  gospel  of  sectarianism, 
the  distorted  fraternity  of  selfishness,  and  the  abominable 
gospel  of  Religious  Domination !  I  believe,  however,  that 
immense  good  has  been  done  by  missions;  and,  also  im- 
mense harm.  During  all  our  travels  in  Africa,  Egypt, 
Palestine,  Syria,  Greece,  and  Turkey,  we  tried  but  failed 
to  find  a  single  convert  from  Islam  to  Christianity;  and  we 
have  never  found  an  ideal  converted  Jew. 


MISSIONS  AND  MISSIONARIES.  253 

One  thing  is  certain:  much  money  is  spent  upon  mis- 
sions without  great  appreciable  results.  Instead  of  apos- 
tles who  let  their  light  so  shine  that  men  seeing  their  good 
works  glorify  their  Father  which  is  in  Heaven, — what 
do  \ve  too  often  find?  Teachers  of  sects  and  of  doctrine 
manufactured  of  men;  and  often  impiously  holding  up 
God's  word  to  justify  their  heresies,  instead  of  being  ear- 
nest helpers  and  humble  teachers,  proving  by  their  lives 
the  faith  which  they  would  inculcate.  We  rejoice  to  say 
that  we  have  seen,  however,  especially  in  Turkey  and 
Syria,  something  of  those  grand  missions  of  godly  life— 
those  colleges  which  do  honor  to  Christian  learning  and 
devotion;  and  which  are  of  incalculable  help,  not  only  to 
many  and  various  Oriental  Christians,  but  to  those  who 
are  professedly  non-Christians;  —  following  the  Great 
Teacher  at  a  distance.  It  is  a  pleasure  and  a  duty  to  men- 
tion  the  American  college  at  Beyrout,  founded  and  under 
the  direction  of  that  grand  Christian  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Bliss,  and  those  at  Constantinople  by  another  god-sent 
teacher — the  Rev.  Dr.  Washburn;  and  the  American  Col- 
lege for  Girls,  whose  president  is  our  distinguished  com- 
patriot, Miss  Mary  M.  Patrick,  Ph.  D.  These  three  Amer- 
ican institutions  are  grand  examples  of  high  civilization, 
wisdom,  and  unsectarian  Christianity,  given  to  the  world 
through  the  benevolent  tolerance  of  the  Sublime  Porte 
and  the  mercy  of  the  Sublimer  one  of  Eternal  Truth  and 
Charity!  These  great  teachers  do  not  seek  to  proselyte 
from  one  institution  to  another;  but  cultivate  and  elevate 
all  into  a  higher  appreciation  of  man-  and  his  duty,  as  well 
as  of  his  responsibility  to  God  and  to  their  respective 
people  and  countries.  The  American  Protestant  Missions 
of  Cairo  and  Assiout  are  too  well  known  by  the  good  work 
they  have  done  for  years,  to  need  any  eulogy  from  me. 

As  I  believe  it  becomes  duty  to  give  advice  when  we 
feel  quite  sure  it  is  needed,  so  I  beg  to  say  for  all  whom 


254  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

it  may  concern,  that  Missionaries  should  not  only  know 
something  of  the  language  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  go,  but  should  not  be  ignorant  of  their  manners  and 
customs,  and  ready  to  adopt  their  modes  of  living  as  much 
as  is  possible, — such  as  dress  and  eating.  Good  doctors 
must  know  their  patients  well  if  they  hope  to  cure.  Mis- 
sionaries are  doctors,  and_ they  should  sympathize^jiot  only 
\\othJheiiMlls  jind^  misfortunes,  but  their  opinions,  beliefs,. 
and  prejudices;  gently  infusing  strength,  imparting  knowl- 
edge wisely,  and  carrying  a  carefully  shaded  lamp  to  weak 
eyes.  Above  all  they  should  study  their  religion  with  re- 
spect;— willing  to  learn  as  well  as  to  teach; — loving  those- 
wKoliiiJjiej^  or  jsave ;  taking  a  real  prac- 

tising interestin^jvh^^  them;  ren3enng  all 

possible  help,  inlsmaT^  in^the^SogFlm^ 

portant : — washingll^^  cleaning  sores,, 

bracing  up  ^wfl^aji^developing  conscience,    ^stablisff 
sympathetic  relations,  anTTaTT^lTej-^^ 
the  hard  work.     Indeed  it  is  only  the  hard  work  well  done 
that  brings  happiness. 

Touching  the  Coptic  Church,  we  feel  that  the  inter- 
ference of  any  sect  or  denomination  with  this  most  ancient 
of  all  Churches,  is  as  disloyal  to  its  Divine  Founder  as  it 
is  illegal  in  the  ecclesiastical  realm, — save  where  suck 
interference  is  the  kindly  help  of  affectionate  brotherhood. 
And  the  Copts  need  help,  as  do  all  other  Oriental  sections 
of  the  Church  of  Christ; — and  by  this  need,  charity  is 
fostered  between  them,  which  leads  to  friendly  relations, 
and  tends  to  unite  all  in  one.  Rome  has  done  in  Egypt 
what  she  has  tried  to  do  with  all  the  other  Oriental 
Churches,  not  only  with  doubtful  success,  but  with  posi- 
tive disaster  to  Christian  faith; — bringing  dissension, 
bitterness,  hatred,  war,  and  massacre.  She  has  long  ago- 
succeeded  in  detaching  about  100,000  Copts  from  their 
mother-church,  and  too  often  for  earthly  consideration,— 


MISSIONS  AND  MISSIONARIES.  255 

thus  creating  a  small  schism  which  bears  the  name  of  the 
Coptic  Catholic  Church.  Protestantism  has  also  made  an 
effort — with  less  success  as  far  as  numbers  go,  but  has 
caused  animosity  where  it  should  have  brought  only  light 
and  help.  We  heard  many  intelligent  Moslems,  Copts, 
and  other  Christian  people  in  Egypt,  deploring  the  lack 
of  comprehension  on  the  part  of  well  meaning  Protestants 
in  this  matter.  They  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  doing  good 
in  the  way  of  schools,  but  they  damage  all  their  other  good 
work  by  their  proselyting  efforts,  which  are  almost  fruit- 
less ;  or  if  they  produce  fruit,  it  is  bitter : — distrust,  feud, 
and  hatred.  What  the  venerable  Coptic  Church  needs 
and  every  other  Church  East  or  West,  is  an  infusion  of  the 
pure  practical  Gospel  into  individual  life, — strictly  and 
conscientiously  avoiding  all  divisions  and  dissensions.  For 
such  a  great  and  noble  work,  we  believe,  American  non- 
sectarian  Protestantism  is  the  best  adapted;  and  for  the 
reasons  that  America,  with  her  large  and  wholesome  char- 
ity, and  her  beneficent  law  of  non-intervention,  has,  by 
the  marvelous  Providence  of  God,  no  political  rivalries  ;— 
and,  I  fear  not  to  say  that,  with  the  remarkable  wisdom 
of  her  men  and  the  loving  and  energetic  faith  of  her  women 
—Christianity  has  to-day,  in  that  happy  land,  its  best  ex- 
pression. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  Christians  of  Egypt, 
and  a  friend  of  the  missionaries,  said  to  us:  "These  mis- 
sionaries would  undoubtedly  do  far  greater  good,  and  ren- 
der real  service,  if  they  would  cease  this  attempt  at  prose- 
lyting ; — but,"  he  continued  in  a  critical  but  deploring  tone, 
"they  would  then,  of  course,  lose  their  raison  d'etre!" 

One  of  the  most  needed  works  in  the  world  is  to  send 
missionaries  among  their  compatriots  living  in  foreign 
lands, — looking  after  them  with  all  kindness,  particular!}' 
in  their  moral  dangers  and  spiritual  lives, — thus  prevent- 
ing the  introduction  of  the  vices  which  belong  to  our  higher 


256  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

civilization  and  lower  morals.  It  is  well  known  how  mis- 
sionaries sent  to  pagan  countries  to  convert  the  people  to 
the  true  God,  are  immediately  followed  by  the  cohorts  of 
Satan: — so-called  Christians,  who  set  up,  first  of  all,  the 
seductive  idol,  Lucre,  which  adapts  its  worship  to  all  re- 
ligions;— teaching  simple  peoples  how  to  propitiate  it, 
bringing  their  libations  of  alcohol,  their  fumes  of  opium 
and  tobacco,  and  celebrating  openly  the  most  abominable 
debaucheries  in  its  worship; — poisoning  and  killing  those 
nations  who  are  seeking  light  and  stretching  out  their 
hands  like  children  for  the  Bread  of  Life!  Occasionally 
Orientals  unintentionally  send  us  a  direful  plague ;  but  we, 
with  full  intention,  have  fastened  upon  them  a  permanent, 
and  deadly  pest,  a  quadruple  combination  of  poisons  which 
kill  both  body  and  soul :  alcohol,  opium,  nicotine,  and  syph- 
ilis. These  pests  cannot  be  rooted  out,  as  is  cholera  and 
plague,  by  International  Hygienic  Societies;  but  by  the 
long  persistent  personal  endeavor  of  millions  of  virtuous 
men  and  women  at  home  and  abroad; — with  God's  Grace 
added. 

No!  I  do  not  believe  in  missions  that  are  the  fore- 
runners of  such  abominable  work;  and  if  missionaries  are 
incapable  of  controlling  these  Christians  who  follow  in 
their  wake,  how  can  they  hope  to  convince  the  pagan  or 
convert  the  savage?  As  to  the  Moslems, — happily  their 
sublime  faith  and  innate  sobriety  make  them  almost  proof 
against  our  influence;  though  in  large  cities  where  Euro- 
peans have  preponderating  power,  their  deleterious  influ- 
ence is  deplorable.  In  Moslem  countries,  as  everywhere, 
there  is  another  powerful  resisting  force:  the  women;— 
and  to  them  we  look  with  admiration  and  confidence. 

We  have  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  the  purest  light  ever 
given  to  the  world ;  but  alas !  among  its  followers  some  of 
the  weakest  and  some  of  the  most  iniquitous  among  men. 
Peter  and  Judas  do  not  stand  alone. 


,      MISSIONS  AND  MISSIONARIES.  257 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  sometimes  among  mis- 
sionaries a  lack  of  the  most  preliminary  common  sense. 
For  example,  I  visited  a  Protestant  school  during  our  trav- 
els where  there  were  about  40  small  children :  Copts,  Jews, 
and  Moslems;  and  so  little  were  they,  and  so  high  were 
the  benches,  that  not  a  quarter  of  them  could  touch  the 
floor  with  their  feet!  This  was  simply  persecution  for 
those  poor  little  things  who  always  sat  on  the  ground  at 
home.  And  worse  than  all  they  were  crowded  into  a  sun- 
less room  where  ventilation  was  entirely  lacking,  save 
from  a  small  door; — while  out  of  school  they  live  almost 
constantly  in  the  open  air  and  in  the  sun.  They  need  both. 
There  was  not  a  happy  looking  child  among  them  and  sev- 
eral were  weeping!  This  missionary  teacher  should  have 
had  his  class  out-doors,  with  all  those  little  tots  sitting  in 
the  sand — and  himself  too!  I  know  of  Catholic  mission- 
aries in  Africa  who  do  not  hesitate  to  wear  the  Arab  dress, 
cross  their  feet  and  sit  in  the  sand — teaching  their  Roman 
doctrine ;  and,  moreover,  the  people  like  them .... 

To  one  missionary  and  his  wife,  to  whom  I  carried  a 
letter  of  introduction,  I  paid  a  seasonable  visit;  but  the 
wife  declined  to  see  me  because,  as  she  sent  me  word,  she 
"was  not  dressed  well  enough."-— I  have  called  often,  un- 
announced, upon  Moslem  women,  but  have  never  heard 
this  excuse  or  any  other, — as  their  hospitality  exceeds  their 
vanity.  The  sequel  to  my  call  upon  this  missionary's  wife, 
however,  was  somewhat  consoling,  for  I  was  told  that 
when  she  watched  me  from  behind  the  curtains  as  I  left  the 
premises,  she  exclaimed:  "Oh,  if  I  had  known  she  came  to 
call  upon  us  in  such  a  simple  costume  I  should  not  have 
been  ashamed  to  receive  her  as  I  was!"  I  will  state  that 
my  "costume"  consisted  of  a  light  gray  woolen  gown— 
"all  of  a  piece" — of  a  style  we  call  Princess,  and  which 
is  like  the  felleen  women's, — and  a  large  white  cotton  veil 
that  covered  mv  straw  hat  and  also  served  as  a  mantle  like 


258  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM.. 

the  Arab  women.  And  if  there  was  undue  luxury  or  ex- 
travagance in  the  length  and  breadth  of  such  a  veil, — its 
justification  is  in  its  refractive  qualities,  and  its  palliation 
in  its  economic  measures:  it  cost  four  cents  a  yard,  and 
"washes"  beautifully. 

At  another  school,  [you  see,  dear  friends,  the  "chief's 
among  ye"-  -]  also  Protestant,  the  odors  in  the  court,  and 
even  in  the  classroom,  were  so  obnoxious  that  we  were 
forced  to  leave  at  once;  and  though  the  windows  were 
large  and  plenty  of  them,  they  were  all  hermetically  closed. 
The  air  was  simply  pestiferous,  and  the  otherwise  fine- 
looking  students  were  listlessly  drowsy,  for  lack  of  oxygen. 

While  we  are  on  this  subject  of  cleanliness,  I  can  say 
that  where  Moslems  live,  exclusively,  there  are  no  foul 
odors  or  obnoxious  sights.  They  keep  strictly  to  the  law 
laid  down  by  Moses  in  the  great  encampment  in  the  wilder- 
ness. 

We  have  not  unfrequently  been  deeply  pained  by  hear- 
ing from  some  missionaries  (and  some  of  whom  write 
books,  or  are  correspondents  of  religious  papers)  long  ac- 
counts of  the  faults  and  defects  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  were  sent, — criticising  or  condemning  all  and  every- 
thing, with  seldom,  or  never,  a  word  of  approbation,  sym- 
pathy, or  pity  for  the  ignorant,  suffering,  or  oppressed 
race  to  whom  they  are  "sent"; — but  not  of  God! 

When  a  fellow-being  needs  help,  be  he  a  brother  or 
stranger — and  you  enter  his  home,  be  it  tent,  hut,  or  palace, 
you  should  not  begin  by  decrying  his  dwelling,  manners,  and 
customs;  and  mayhap,  fired  with  unrighteous  zeal,  induce 
him  into  disobeying  father  and  mother,  and  perhaps,  de- 
serting wife  and  children, — abandoning  home  and  family, 
—when  you  should  help  him  to  put  his  house  in  order, 
clean  it  out,  perhaps,  with  its  mould  and  vermin, — and  give 
care  for  and  elevate  his  family — making  them  tidy  and 
happy.  The  trouble  is  that  these  poor  people  are  not  really 


MISSIONS  AND  MISSIONARIES.  259 

recognized  as  brethren,  and  little  love  is  brought  to  bear 
in  mission  work,  but  much  fear  of  "The  Board/'  "The  So- 
ciety," or  "The  Committee"  who  sent  them. 

There  is  one  preliminary  necessity,  if  we  would  hope  for 
the  triumph  of  Christianity  in  the  unbelieving  world,  and  I 
would  like  to  say  this  in  all  loving  confidence  to  every 
missionary:  First  of  all  get  into  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  then  be  not  afraid  of  living  a  simple,  pure,  Christian 
life  yourself.  And  to  every  missionary  society  I  would 
only  reiterate  what  they  know  so  well:  the  millions  of 
Bibles  and  tracts,  which  are  sent  at  such  cost,  to  foreign 
lands,  are  of  little  use  except  to  furnish  fuel  for  fires  as 
they  often  do.  Better  than  these  is  the  going  forth  of  a  few 
earnest  men  and  women  with  genuine  love  in  their  hearts, 
-"called"  of  God,  rather  than  "sent"  by  any  Board  or 
Committee.  And  such  missionaries  can  do  much  work 
with  moderate  expenses,  though  they  should  certainly  be 
well  supported — not  only  with  money,  but  with  affectionate 
appreciation.  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  there  are  such 
and  we  have  seen  them. 

One  of  our  profoundest  regrets — one  of  our  principal 
reproaches,  is  for  those  missionaries  who,  actuated  by  a 
narrow  spirit  of  sectarian  proselytism,  or  being  victims  of 
ignorance,  repudiate  or  ignore  the  value  of  other  great 
religions  of  such  incontestable  superior  order  as  those  of 
Islam,  India,  and  China,  of  which  they  should  certainly 
have  made  careful  study ;  but  of  which  many  go  forth  into 
rich  fields  deplorably  ignorant. 

As  the  three  great  monotheistic  religions  of  Moses, 
Jesus,  and  Mohammed,  have  but  one  ultimate  object:  obe- 
dience to,  and  worship  of  God; — and  while  I  should  cer- 
tainly oppose  sending  proselyting  missionaries  to  any  of 
these,  I  am  not  opposed  to  sending  them  to  those  inferior 
religions  in  which  the  knowledge  of  the  Unique  God  is 
lacking;  where  cows  and  elephants,  snakes  and  fetish  are 


2(X)  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

worshiped.  Missionaries  to  these  far-away  brethren  should 
seek  first  of  all, — and  with  the  most  charitable  considera- 
tion and  delicate  firmness  in  faith, — to  turn  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  unbelievers;  first,  toward  the  unity  of  faith  in 
God — Creator  and  Father  of  all  men, — then,  in  due  time 
and  naturally,  to  Him  whom  God  sent  as  our  Helper,  Con- 
soler, Regenerator, — the  Messiah  who  was  foretold,  an- 
nounced, and  expected  to  come  to  the  earth  by  the  Prophets 
of  all  religions :  the  Christ.  With  these  simple  but  prelimi- 
nary tenets,  all  may  concur  without  offense,  division,  or 
resentment, — and  mutual  help  and  universal  brotherhood 
be  entered  upon  at  once  in  practical,  daily  life — leaving 
creeds  and  councils  for  theological  seminaries.  If  God  and 
Christ  are  real — and  if  Truth,  and  Justice,  and  Charity 
should  no  longer  be  veiled,  then  go  forward  in  their 
strength!  You  will  find  the  recompense,  for  the  most  ig- 
norant will  understand  and  accept  the  work  of  Regene- 
ration in  heart  and  home — mind  and  soul.  Unfortunately 
through  our  ignorance  and  unwise  zeal  for  our  own  sects, 
heresies,  superstitions,  and  divisions,  we  too  often  disgust 
those  whom  we  would  convert  to  our  faith  with  our  pre- 
tended, or  pretentious,  Christianity,  —  and  thus  deprive 
them  of  the  true  following  of  Christ.  But,  to  be  fair,  we 
will  reiterate — it  is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  mission- 
aries as  it  is  of  those  w^ho  send  them ! 

I  would  recommend  strongly  and  urgently  lady  doctors 
for  all  missionary  fields. 

And  of  those  who  are  not  sent  out  as  special  mission- 
aries, but  who  are,  perhaps,  doing  greater  work,  though 
unobserved  and  unpaid-for,  in  the  homes,  towns,  highways, 
and  byways  in  the  ordinary  trend  of  life ; — Stationary  Min- 
isters— it  is  high  time  that  every  man  and  woman  should 
be  taught  their  first,  continuous,  and  last  lesson,  without 
creed,  cant,  or  cavil :  Love  to  God  and  Love  to  man. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

AF  Alexandria  we  were  the  guests  of  Aziz-Kahil-Beyr 
Vice-President  of  the  Supreme  Court,  whose  charm- 
ing- villa  is  at  Ramleh,  the  fashionable  suburb  of  the  city. 
His  Excellency  is  of  Syrian  parentage — of  the  Arab  race, 
and  in  religion  of  the  Greek  Uniate  Church — altogether 
the  perfect  Egyptian  gentleman. 

We  were  here,  as  elsewhere,  greatly  edified  at  the  am- 
icable relations  existing  between  Mussulmans  and  Chris- 
tians. Of  these  latter  there  are  numerous  sects,  confes- 
sions, and  denominations ;  but  the  prepondering  Church  is 
the  Greek  Orthodox,  as  it  is  throughout  the  Orient.  Not 
only  in  ecclesiastical  importance,  but  in  financial  pursuits, 
they  take  the  lead.  The  Copts,  being  the  only  indigenous 
Christians,  are  important,  exercising  a  quiet  but  widely 
felt  influence,  and  count  to  advantage  in  the  Egyptian 
government. 

We  had  letters  from  the  Coptic  Patriarch  of  Cairo  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Alexandria  whom  we  found  a  very 
learned  and  most  benevolent  man,  and  seconded  by  an 
intelligent  clergy. 

The  climate  of  Egypt  is  so  conducive  to  repose  of  nerves 
and  mind,  and  calming  of  spirit,  and,  therefore,  to  con- 
ciliation and  friendliness,  that  only  virulent  fanatics  can 
enter  into  dogmatic  quarrels  there.  If  earth  makes  the 
man,  atmosphere  modifies  him.  It  was  to  Egypt  that  Mary 
and  Joseph  turned  their  anxious  eyes  and  troubled  spirits, 


262  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

in  their  day  of  peril;  and  it  was  there  in  that  soft,  pure 
air  that  the  Child  of  the  Holy  Spirit  breathed  in,  perhaps, 
His  first  loving  inspiration  which  glorifies  Him  as  the 
Prince  of  Peace. 

We  were  present  at  the  first  official  visit  of  the  new 
Mohammedan  Governor,  Sabry  Pasha,  to  the  Coptic  Arch- 
bishop. They  are  both  superior  men.  His  Excellency,  a 
tall  well  developed  Arab  of  princely  bearing,  was  sur- 
rounded by  his  staff.  His  Grace,  the  Archbishop,  also 
Arab,  tall  and  imposing  in  stature,  was  surrounded  by 
his  clergy — Secular  and  Regular :  i.  e.,  the  married  and  the 
monastic  Priests.  The  Governor  was  educated  in  Europe, 
the  Archbishop  at  the  Alma  Mater  of  the  Coptic  Church 
—the  great  convent  out  in  the  desert,  four  days  march 
from  all  civilization.  Their  schools  of  learning  were  most 
unlike, — but  the  same  progressive,  fraternal,  and  patriotic 
spirit  animates  them  both. 

We  were  deeply  impressed  there,  as  elsewhere,  by  the 
amicable  relations  of  Orientals  of  different  races,  and 
sometimes  of  opposing  religious  beliefs.  There  is  always 
mutual  and  dignified  respect,  blended  with  friendly,  even 
affectionate,  sentiment;  for  with  the  Oriental,  the  heart, 
though  under  control,  is  not,  as  with  us,  subservient  or  a 
slave  to  the  brain. 

We  visited  the  Coptic  Cathedral  and  College  in  Alex- 
andria, and  found  the  youth  almost  abreast  with  those  of 
European  schools.  The  first  Coptic  school  for  girls  was 
opened  during  our  visit,  and  we  were  invited  to  the  cere- 
mony at  which  were  the  professors  of  the  boys'  college, 
teachers  and  clergy — the  Archbishop  presiding.  There 
were  present  about  200  in  all  and  not  a  woman  save  myself. 
This  seemed  very  strange  to  me,  educated  as  I  have  been 
in  America  where  women,  and  especially  mothers,  take 
equal  interest  with  fathers — if  not  more — in  the  education 
of  their  sons  and  daughters;  and  participate  in  all  public 


ALEXANDRIA.  263 

and  private  meetings  concerning  them.  (Nor  is  France 
much  in  advance  of  Egypt,  for  nowhere  in  that  very  pro- 
gressive and  promising  Republic,  especially  in  public 
schools  and  colleges,  are  fathers  or  mothers  allowed  to 
visit  the  classes  of  their  sons  and  daughters !  It  is  as  un- 
fair as  it  is  unwise; — I  should  say  rather  that  it  is  as  ab- 
surd as  it  is  reprehensible.  But  France  has  so  much-to 
undo  before  she  can  do  much ! ) 

I  was,  however,  welcomed  at  the  inauguration  of  this 
first  Coptic  school  for  girls,  with  every  mark  of  courtesy 
and  evident  satisfaction.  There  were  different  discourses 
pertaining  to  this  most  salutary  advance  in  the  education 
of  women  in  Egypt; — but  all  was  in  Arabic.  I  was  in- 
vited to  speak  on  the  important  subject  of  women's  edu- 
cation, having  the  English  prefessor  for  translator.  Ask- 
ing the  venerable  Archbishop's  permission  to  speak  freely 
and  receiving  his  approbation,  I  began  by  saying  that,  for 
the  proper  education  and  culture  of  women,  we  must  be- 
gin by  the  proper  education  and  culture  of  men; — there- 
fore, I  begged  the  whole  body  to  desist  from  smoking! 
This  was  startling,  as  I  believe  every  man  present  had  a 
cigarette  in  his  mouth — even  the  Archbishop.  (Happily 
all  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  vast  hall  were  open- 
hence  I  live  to  tell  the  tale. )  Instantly  the  smoking  ceased 
and  soon,  with  the  admirable  ventilation  the  atmosphere 
became  clear. 

My  exordium  gave  evident  surprise,  but  the  Copts  are 
Arabs  and  like  the  Moslems,  seldom  lose  their  self-posses- 
sion ;  and  to  my  great  surprise  and  satisfaction,  there  were 
marks  of  approbation  throughout  the  assembly. 

My  remarks  touching  the  American  idea  of  women's 
participation  in  all  that  concerns  humanity — especially  in 
the  matter  of  education — were  warmly  applauded. — Some 
weeks  after,  when  at  Jerusalem,  I  received  an  Arab  paper 
of  Beyrout,  in  which  was  printed  my  little  speech  before 


264  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

the  Coptic  Archbishop  and  professors  in  Alexandria,  in- 
cluding what  I  said  about  smoking. 

This  incident  shows  that  Orientals  have  not  the  preju- 
dice against  new  ideas  which  we  attribute  to  them.  Use- 
ful and  practical  ideas,  like  good  seed,  spring  up  promptly 
in  their  warm,  waiting  soil. 

The  Copts  are  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to  learn. 
Moslems  are  slower  to  accept  modern  methods  of  learning, 
because  they  are  extremely  jealous  of  their  faith,  and  sus- 
picious of  our  false  civilization.  The  lethargic  state  of 
the  Copt  Church  has  exposed  it  to  incursions  of  foreign 
missionaries,  particularly  the  Roman  Catholic.  To  avoid 
new  schism  they  should  awake  out  of  this  stagnant  con- 
dition; and  we  hope  to  see,  ere  long,  an  important  center 
of  Coptic  theology  and  modern  science  established  at  Cairo 

or  A^xa^dna^  C^^J^  um*  *  Tt~  ~"*, 

irfaut  vainer  e  le\monde\ou  le  monde  vous  vainer  a. 

Dear  venerable  Coptic  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  you 
will  read  these  lines;  and  I,  therefore,  lay  them  respect- 
fully at  your  feet — kissing  your  hand  which  has  given  us 
such  precious  and  munificent  blessing  in  the  name  of  Him 
who  brought  true  Light  and  real  Liberty  into  the  world! 

As  there  is  an  end  to  everything  under  the  sun,  so  alas ! 
there  was  to  our  visit  to  Egypt. 

On  the  steamer's  deck  we  bade  farewell  to  our  kind 
host  whose  hospitality  and  intelligence  had  rendered  our 
fortnight  there  one  of  the  most  agreeable  as  well  as  the 
most  useful  in  acquiring  knowledge  of  Egypt  and  its  di- 
verse people — and  to  other  friends.  As  we  steamed  quietly 
out  into  the  broad  sea,  Alexandria  withdrew  slowly  into 
the  distance  and  into  the  night,  and  into  the  Past, — and  we 
sailed  for  Jaffa — nearing  Jerusalem. 

We  sighted  land  next  morning,  and  among  the  many 
tongues  we  heard  on  the  ship's  deck,  only  one  word  fell 
into  my  heart,  and  that  was — "Palestine." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

JAFFA. 

BEFORE  leaving  Alexandria,  we  had  received  an  in- 
vitation of  sojourn  from  the  Coptic  Archbishop  of 
Jerusalem,  who  usually  resides  on  his  large  estate  at  Jaffa. 
His  dragoman*  met  us  at  the  landing  and  we  were  driven 
through  the  strange  city — the  streets  being  filled  with  all 
sorts  of  Orientals  and  Occidentals,  and  encumbered  with 
camels  and  donkeys, — out  on  the  confines  of  the  plains  of 
Sharon,  to  the  Archiepiscopal  Residence  where  we  met  a 
patriarchal  welcome  from  this  venerable  father  in  the 
faith.  He  is  eighty  years  old,  and  his  long  life  of  hard 
work  tells  upon  his  hitherto  good  health,  and  he  is  now 
partially  paralyzed^ — unable  to  rise  or  walk  alone.  His 
reception  was  very  touching.  At  the  farther  end  of  the 
long  high  room  filled  with  sunshine  flooding  in  from  many 
windows — seated  on  the  high  white  divan  between  arm- 
pillows — enveloped  in  his  ample  robes  of  violet  satin,  his 
venerable  turbaned  head  erect,  his  thin  white  hands  out- 
stretched to  receive  us; — he  was  the  perfect  type  of  the 
Abrahamic  Patriarch — with  a  heart  overflowing  with 
Evangelical  speech  and  tenderness. 

We  could  not  speak  his  tongue  nor  he  ours,  but  in 
those  tears  of  gratitude  at  our  coming,  that  trembled  on 

*  All  Oriental  Patriarchs  and  Archbishops,  like  all  Ambassadors,  have  a 
dragoman  attached  to  their  person  who  is  secretary,  homme  de  confiance, 
charge  d'affaires,  or  attache, — and  not  to  be  confounded  with  a  traveling 
dragoman. 


266  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

his  wan  furrowed  cheeks;  and  with  those  that  welled 
within  our  hearts — words  were  superfluous: — wre  were 
in  the  home  of  a  High-Priest  of  Israel — in  the  arms  of  a 
loving  father. 

During  the  winter  the  Archbishop  lives  in  the  convent 
near  the  Archiepiscopal  Palace  which  he  has  evidently 
built  for  his  friends  and  not  for  himself.  It  is  the  finest 
ecclesiastical  residence  in  Palestine; — modern  and  mag- 
nificent— imposing  in  architecture  but  simple  in  appoint- 
ments, with  wide  high  verandas  and  terraces,  numerous 
rooms  and  immense  corridors.  In  the  midst  of  the  vast 
orange  groves,  on  an  eminence,  it  overlooks  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  commands  the  beautiful  plain  of  Sharon. 

Here  we  were  at  last,  all  alone,  save  for  the  attendants ; 
and  had  ample  time  and  room  to  rest,  of  which  we  had 
great  need,  having  been  constantly  in  movement  and  sur- 
rounded by  much  and  varied  people,  with  divers  and  in- 
tensely interesting  occupation  for  the  previous  six  months. 

Despite  the  palatial  residence,  what  Evangelical  sim- 
plicity of  life  and  manners !  The  dragoman,  who  was  also 
our  cook,  was  a  deacon  of  the  church,  a  native,  that  is  an 
Arab,  and  born  in  Jerusalem.  But  what  delicious,  though 
simple  food  he  gave  us  to  eat! — and  with  what  constant 
kindness  he  thought  of  everything  for  our  comfort.  He 
was  married  and  a  father,  and  hoped  soon  to  be  ordained 
priest.  He  spoke  English  well  and  a  little  French;  and 
was  devoted  to  the  venerable  Archbishop  and  to  his  church 
—serving  the  altar  and  chanting  vespers  barefooted.  At 
Easter-tide  he  goes  up  to  Jerusalem  to  serve  in  the  Coptic 
chapel  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre — wearing- 
magnificent  brocaded  vestments  and  tiara. 

Those  were  grateful  days  in  Jaffa ; — rest  for  the  body 
and  beatitude  for  the  soul.  All  through  the  long  sweet 
hours  of  this  Oriental  springtime,  wre  sat  on  the  broad  ter- 
race overlooking  the  luxuriant  plain  of  Sharon,  with  its 


JAFFA.  267 

palms  swaying  above  the  vast  orchards  of  orange  trees, 
which  are  always  in  blossom  and  always  in  fruit;  the  grass 
and  bushes  all  filled  with  insects  chirping  their  joy,  and 
every  tree  vocal  writh  singing  birds — the  air  vibrating 
with  humming  bees  and  luminous  with  golden  sheen  of 
pollen; — the  warm  sunlight  over  it  all,  with  the  stretch 
of  Paradise  sweeping  away  to  the  fading  hills  of  Judca~:  .  . 
To  the  North  lies  Galilee — to  the  East,  Jerusalem. — There 
it  lies,  just  over  those  undulating  lines  like  the  New  Jeru- 
salem— unseen  and  yet  so  near ! 

The  soft  breeze  coming  in  from  the  sea  fanned  us  with 
subtle  perfumes  of  orange-blossoms,  jessamine,  myrtle, 
heliotrope,  roses,  and  violets.  It  was  indeed  the  Garden 
of  the  Lord. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  was  Sunday,  and  to  crown  it 
all,  after  this  communion  with  God  and  nature,  we  were 
invited  to  the  Holiest  of  all  Communions,  that  of  God  in 
His  Son. 

The  church,  palace,  convent,  and  clergy-house,  are  all 
near,  in  the  same  vast  enclosure.  Under  the  trelliswork 
of  jessamine  and  orange-trees,  we  passed  to  the  quiet, 
lovely  church,  almost  hidden  in  verdure,  where  a  com- 
pany of  new  friends  of  the  old  faith  awaited  us  beneath 
the  peristyle — to  give  us  the  welcome  of  brotherhood.  Ah, 
what  a  befitting  introduction  to  the  preaching  would  be 
such  a  gospel  welcome,  given  at  the  door  of  our  churches, 
to  friends — rich  and  poor — and  especially  to  strangers ! 

There  are  but  few  Copts  at  Jaffa,  and  the  church  is 
small  but  built  in  style,  prettily  painted  within,  and  old 
enough  to  give  it  a  venerable  air,  light,  airy,  and  clean. 
Shoes  and  sandals  are  left  at  the  door  in  a  long  orderly 
line,  and  all  enter  in  stockings — or,  in  the  case  of  the 
humbler  class  and  little  children,  barefooted.  The  floor 
is  covered  with  fine  matting  and  carpets  upon  which  all 
sit  or  kneel.  The  only  seats  were  two  chairs  brought  for 


268  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

us.  The  men  were  at  the  right  on  entering,  the  women 
at  the  left — and  in  whole  families — little  children  abound- 
ing, not  constrained,  though  all  were  perfectly  docile  and 
well  behaved; — little  things  of  two  years  or  less,  kneeling 
and  clasping  their  tiny  dimpled  hands  as  none  could  do 
save  those  who  drink  in  devotion  with  their  mother's  milk. 
The  matins  were  chanted  in  the  familiar  Arabic  meas- 
ure which  we  had  learned  to  love.  (  How  delighted  we  were 
to  hear  it,  afterwards,  in  the  Matin  service  of  the  Greek 
church  in  Paris !)  The  choir  was  composed  of  all  the  men 
and  boys  of  the  congregation,  who  stand  around  the  lec- 
tern before  the  altar  steps, — and  all  sing  heartily.  There 
was  a  magnificent  supplementary  choir  of  hundreds  of  little 
birds  who  flew  and  swung  through  the  high  oval  windows 
in  the  cornice, — quite  outdoing  all  earthly  symphonies;— 
and  when  the  chanting  ceased,  they,  too,  sang  less  and 
only  kept  the  cadences  w.ith  their  gentle  chirping.  Many 
of  them  took  their  places  on  cornice,  capital,  or  picture 
frame,  and  also  (dear  little  confiding  creatures!) — all 
along  the  outstretched  arms  of  the  Saviour  on  the  great 
sculptured  crucifix  which  is  lifted  above  the  Holy  Screen. 
Some  even  carried  their  Heavenly  daring  so  far  as  to 
alight  and  sing  God's  praise  from  the  Crown  of  Thorns 
that  encircled  His  sacred  Head. — I  must  confess  that  I 
felt  a  momentary  impression  as  if  this  conduct  on  the  part 
of  those  little  birds  was,  if  not  sacrilege,  at  least  highly 
improper;  and  my  mind  suggested  window  panes  or  wire 
grating  to  keep  them  out ;  but,  as  the  Sanctus  was  chanted, 
there  came  flying,  flashing  through  the  holy  song  such  a 
cloud  of  them,  and  with  such  a  united  cry  of  joy,  that  my 
soul,  too,  was  smitten  with  worship;  and  my  lips  taking- 
lip  the  song,  I  asked  within  me:  why  shut  out  God's  wit- 
nesses which  "flock  to  the  windows?" — this  loving  Heav- 
enly choir!  Oh  no!  let  the  birds  come  and  go  in  our 


JAFFA.  269 

churches  as  they  will!  Let  them  awake  within  our  dor- 
mant souls  new  paeans  of  worship  and  praise! 

Next  to  the  birds,  the  little  children  had  their  way  in 
this  quiet  Coptic  church ; — but  more  discreetly,  going  with 
worshipful  demeanor  about  from  one  end  of  the  church 
to  another,  and  no  one  said  them  nay. 

And  now  was  enacted  a  scene  unique  and  mostjtouch- 
ing.  The  officiating  Priest  was  reading  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, when  there  glided  from  out  the  company  of  women 
a  little  child  of  about  two  and  a  half  years  old,  all  clad  in 
purple  velvet  with  gold  lace,  and  with  pretty  little  bare 
feet  tending  toward  the  Altar.  Though  the  mother  made 
unsuccessful  effort  to  retain  him,  the  little  fellow  was  evi- 
dently bent  upon  a  larger  liberty,  and  simply  made  his 
way  quietly  and  with  decorum  among  the  worshippers, 
straight  up  toward  the  officiating  Priest — who  was  his 
father, — for  Coptic  Priests,  save  monks,  must  all  be  mar- 
ried. The  surrounding  men,  without  a  word,  or  even  a 
disturbing  movement,  made  gentle  effort  to  detain  the 
child;  but  no,  he  silently,  and  with  sweet  determination, 
would  go  to  his  father, — who  feeling  his  little  son  clinging 
to  his  robe,  without  the  least  turning  of  the  head  or  slack- 
ing of  the  reading,  put  down  his  hand  gently  and  stroked 
the  baby  head,  to  reassure  him  and  keep  him  quiet  But 
the  little  fellow  would  not  be  reassured  in  that  manner, 
and  wanted  to  be  taken  up!  Evidently  nothing  would 
satisfy  the  loving  child  but  his  father's  arms; — so  the 
Priest,  without  a  break  in  the  Holy  Text,  stooped  and  took 
up  the  child,  laying  his  head  upon  his  father's  breast. 
There  the  son  found  what  he  had  sought  and  never  moved 
again.  How  vividly  came  to  my  mind  the  words  of  the 
great  High  Priest,  the  loving  Jesus:  "Suffer  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

The  chapter  was  a  long  one  and  the  intoning  slow, 


27O  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

and  when  it  was  finished,  the  little  lamb  was  fast  asleep. 
Without  the  least  embarrassment  or  interruption  of  the 
service,  the  father  handed  him  to  a  deacon  who  carried 
him  to  the  arms  of  his  mother. 

What  a  beautiful  lesson  of  Holy  Fatherhood  in  Holy 
Priesthood ! 

Sadly  we  compared  the  celibate  clergy  of  our  Western 
Roman  Church--!  say  "Western,"  for  the  Oriental 
Roman  Churches  retain  their  married  priesthood,  and 
have  never  allowed  any  interference  of  Pope  or  Jesuit  in 
this  holy,  Apostolic  Right. — O,  guardians  of  the  Church ! 
let  the  little  children  come  in — come  into  their  rightful 
domain,  into  the  beautiful  world — into  the  churches — in 
their  natural,  normal,  and  holy  places! 

These  and  still  happier  thoughts  possessed  us  as  we 
left  the  beautiful,  vine-covered  church  and  our  Communion 
with  the  brethren,  with  the  birds  and  babes,  in  the  Holy 
Land. — Another  scene  rose  in  our  minds — so  far  away— 
France,   and  our   dear   home!     Another  priest's   son — a 
manly  youth  with  upturned  brow  and  soul — our  own  dear 
son — our  Emmanuel — and  by  his  side  a  fair,  fond  maiden 
awaiting   his    father's   benediction   to   their   marriage.— 
Holy,  Happy  Day! 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

AT  LAST  ! UP  TO  JERUSALEM  ! 

SO  long  had  this  chord  been  sounding  in  my  soul,  that 
when  at  last  I  stood  upon  the  soil  of  the  Holy  Land, 
I  felt  myself  no  stranger,  I  was  only  nearing  home — for 
which  I  had  been  hungry-hearted  all  my  life!  When  we 
took  our  places  in  the  train  at  Jaffa,  among  all  those 
strangers  and  amid  all  the  pell-mell  of  the  hundreds  of 
Russian  pilgrims, — there  seemed,  in  spite  of  it  all,  a  cer- 
tain humanizing  progress  between  the  material  and  the  di- 
vine that  we  enjoyed — even  the  delay  of  two  hours  in 
starting.  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  interesting  to 
me  as  Humanity, — and  the  greater  the  variety,  the  greater 
the  interest. 

I  felt  no  shock  nor  any  regret  at  having  a  railway 
from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem, — for  I  regarded  it  as  a  fore- 
runner of  the  perfect  reconciliation  of  science  and  religion. 
Then  it  will  help  immensely  in  renewing  the  life  of  the  de- 
serted land — in  making  these  barren  hills  of  Judea  again 
bring  forth  grain  and  olive-trees,  and  all  manner  of  suc- 
culent fruit, — and  the  plain  of  Sharon  to  redouble  its 
blooming  roses !  As  for  that  heterogeneous  mass  of  people 
gathered  in  the  strange  railway  station — coming  up  hither 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  for  the  same  religious  purpose 
that  brought  us  here, — I  felt  a  fraternal  tenderness,  and 
could  not  refrain  from  speaking  to  and  clasping  hands 
with  many  scores  of  these  fellow-pilgrims — some  young 
and  some  old,  some  strong  and  healthy, — others  weak  and 


272  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

sickly, — some  rich,  but  many  poor.  I  shall  never  forget 
an  aged  and  decrepit  Russian  peasant  woman  from  the 
borders  of  Siberia,  clad  in  short  quilted  petticoats  and 
high  heavy  boots — not  comely — but  with  such  blue,  wist- 
ful eyes, — with  something  of  the  sepulchre  within  their 
sad  depths.  We  could  speak  no  intelligible  word  with 
each  other,  and  for  the  means  of  communication  we  were 
limited  to  making  the  sign  of  the  cross — each  in  our  man- 
ner :  she,  as  Orthodox  Greek,  from  brow  to  heart  and  from 
the  right  shoulder  to  the  left;  I,  as  Latin,  from  the  left 
shoulder  to  the  right; — but  we  were  too  glad  and  joyous 
at  the  meeting  to  question  the  form.  The  Cross  was  all 
that  was  needed  to  show  that  we  were  of  the  same  faith 
in  Him  who  bore  it — and  sisters — going  up  to  where  "the 
women"  stood  when  they  crucified  Him. 

And  such  piles  of  luggage! — stacks  and  mountains  of 
it — the  belongings  of  those  Russian  peasants ; — sacks,  and 
bundles,  and  boxes — that  we  did  not  start  on  time: — one 
never  does  in  the  Orient ;  but  once  you  have  breathed  that 
ambiant  contentment  you  need  not  be  troubled  about  it ... 
And  how  comforting  it  was  to  leave  time,  with  our 
watches,  behind  us!  And  what  a  guarantee! — No  time- 
table, and  only  one  train  to  go  and  come.  No  fear  of 
collisions.  All  was  as  it  should  be.  ... 

At  length  the  signal  was  given: — a  steam-whistle  in 
the  Holy  Land!  Just  think  of  it,  my  dear  Mr.  Croaker! 
—a  real  Christian  steam- whistle  of  an  English  locomotive ! 
And  if  the  conscience  of  Christian  England  allows  the 
making  of  idols  for  her  subjects  in  India,  may  she  not  also 
make  steam-whistles  to  help  us  Christian  pagans  up  to 
Jerusalem  ? 

I  have  a  passion  for  machinery,  and  I  like — no,  I  love 
the  steam-engine — for  there  is  divinity  in  it.  To  the  scan- 
dal of  venerable  ladies  of  the  ancien  regime,  I  will  say 
that  at  the  age  of  16,  I  made  my  studies  of  applied  science 


AT  LAST  ! UP  TO  JERUSALEM  !  2/3 

on  a  locomotive,  out  in  what  was  then  the  "Far  West"- 
k 'running  the  train/'  "switching  off,"  "backing  out,"  and 
"slowing  up,"  "cutting  the  air,"  to  the  delight  of  the 
"darkey"  stoker,  and  the  silent  anxiety  of  the  professor 
who,  beside  the  engineer,  was  the  only  passenger  aboard. 
I  have  meddled  with  clay  and  dabbled  in  colors  and  written 
rhymes  and  have  had  my  seasons  of  enthusiasm  for~Per- 
icles  and  Raphael,  Michelangelo,  and  tutti  quanti  of  mas- 
ters ; — but  nothing*  of  art  affects  me  with  such  emotion  as 
does  the  steam-engine!  that  magnificent  and  complicated 
iron  monster,  endowed  with  supernatural  life! — All  light, 
or  electricity,  and  heat  come  from  Heaven,  and  all  phys- 
ical and  moral  strength  come  from  God. 

The  English  consul  at  Jerusalem  was  in  the  train  with 
us  and  did  good  service  as  a  courteous  guide, — pointing 
out  different  Biblical  places  of  interest. 

An  hour's  ride  across  the  ever  verdant,  though  sadly 
neglected  plain  of  Sharon, — where,  however,  we  rejoiced 
to  see  evidence  of  recent  cultivation — particularly  in  the 
Jewish  settlements.  For  the  remainder  of  our  four  hours' 
journey,  there  was  nothing  but  sand  and  rocky  hills; 
rarely  a  tree  or  a  blade  of  grass,  with  here  and  there  a  path 
for  goats  and  sheep — the  same  as  in  the  days  when  The 
Twelve  went  through  this  arid  waste,  to  carry  His  com- 
mand to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world ! — Nothing  but 
desolation  —  and  the  overwhelming  History  of  the  Al- 
mighty's Revelation  and  Visitation  to  man! 

Our  day  was  turning  gray  and  cold  as  we  wound  up 
among  the  bare  hills ;  and  finally,  all  was  silent  in  our 
company. 

At  length  the  train  stopped,  and  we  looked  out  of  the 
windows.  No  city,  no  fortress,  no  dome  nor  tower,  not 
even  a  ruined  wall!  Nothing  but  a  low  modern  building 
with  a  modest  sign  across  its  front: 

JERUSALEM. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

JERUSALEM. SOLOMON'S    TEMPLE. CHURCHES. HOLY 

SEPULCHRE. THE   GRAND   RABBI. 

WE  had  reached  the  goal  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage 
at  three-score  years:  We  stood  in  Jerusalem!— 
We  dwelt  on  Zion's  Hill  over  against  the  Tower  of  David. 

Early  the  next  morning  after  our  arrival  we  started 
for  the  central  spot  of  the  world:  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

Through  those  narrow,  tortuous  streets,  through  the 
cold  rain  and  mud,  through  the  crowding  throng  of  clean 
and  unclean,  washed  and  unwashed  people,  amidst  that 
torturing  jargon  of  unknown  tongues,  among  those  real- 
istic pictures  and  uncanny  sights; — we  wended  our  way 
heavy-hearted,  downward  toward  the  Calvary.  An  un- 
wonted sadness  possessed  me.  There  was  a  faint  religious 
odor  of  incense  and  sandal-wood  in  the  air,  which  alone 
comforted  us. 

Stopping  often  and  gazing  vacantly  into  a  moving 
multitude  of  strange  faces  we  descended  the  crowded 
streets  and  unequal  steps,  and  finally  came  upon  the  great 
square  or  open  court.  We  passed  through  the  door  and 
stood  within  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. — The 
Moslem  "doorkeeper  in  the  house  of  the  Lord"  was  at 
his  post  and  we  saluted  him  with  respect.  We  stood,  my 
husband  and  I,  for  a  time  in  silence — then  we  pressed 
each  other's  hands  as  if  going  on  a  long  journey  into 
unknown  lands,  and  went  each  our  way,  wishing  to  be 


THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 


^rapfc 

UNIVERSITY 
£AL 


OF 


JERUSALEM.  275 

alone,  with  no  human  influence — alone  with  Him  whom 
we  had  come  to  seek.  .  .  . 

Long  I  knelt  and  prayed — my  head  against  the  marble 
that  covered  THE  EMPTY  TOMB; — but  calm,  so  calm,— 
so  almost  cold! — Had  that  broken  slab  of  alabaster  par- 
alyzed my  brain,  frozen  my  heart?    I  asked  for  a  sign;— 
and  when  at  last  I  rose  and  came  away — one  sentiment 
remained,  and  that  was  full  and  strong — /  felt  not  His 
Hol\  Presence  there — but  an  overpowering  Absence!  . .  . 

Then  up  the  Calvary ; — alone  and  on  my  knees — my 
face  to  the  rock — my  faith  full  and  serene; — yet  He  was 
not  there! — He  is  risen! 

And  thenceforth,  more  and  more,  whenever  I  went  to 
the  Sacred  Place  which  is  called  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and 
which  is  believed  by  the  majority  of  Christians  to  be  the 
spot  "where  they  laid  Him" — the  tomb  where  they  laid 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Crucified  Saviour — more  and  more 
I  felt  His  absence! — But  if  my  heart  was  sad,  O,  so  sad! 
my  soul  was  lifted  up — for  I  felt  that  He  zvas  risen! 

From  the  Holy  Sepulchre  we  went  to  the  Place  of 
^^ailing,  and  wept  with  the  Children  of  Israel  on  the  ruins 
of  the  Great  Temple.  Besides  many  venerable  fathers 
and  young  men,  there  were  aged  matrons  and  fair  young 
daughters  of  Sarah,  Rebecca,  and  Rachel — whose  cheeks 
were  wet  writh  tears. 

But  wherefore  weep  ye?  men,  matrons,  and  maidens 
of  Israel?  Weep  no  longer  for  the  past,  but  for  the  pres- 
ent: that  the  children  of  God,  Jews  and  Christians  are  so 
unrighteously  divided ! 

The  w^alls  of  Jerusalem  will  be  builded  again;  but  not 
as  of  old — for  the  prophecy  holds  good:  "All  things  shall 
pass  away  and  there  shall  be  new  heavens  and  a  new 
earth."  Behold!  O  Israel!  behold  the  Son  of  Mary,  the 
spotless  Jewish  maiden  of  the  house  of  David,  —  the 


276  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Anointed  One  is  yours !  O,  abandon  not  Him !  for  He 
has  never  abandoned  you! 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem,  Ib- 
rahim Pasha,  to  whom  we  had  brought  letters  from  Ghasi 
Muchtar  Pasha,  the  Sultan's  High  Commissioner  at  Cairo. 
We  found  His  Excellency  a  most  intelligent,  kind,  and 
courteous  gentleman — putting  us  quite  at  ease  in  excellent 
French,  and  from  the  first  he  was  bent  upon  making  our 
visit  to  Jerusalem  and  Palestine  as  interesting  and  agree- 
able as  possible, — taking  us  under  his  protection  and  send- 
ing us  every  day  a  military  escort  of  one  or  two  Turkish 
soldiers  to  accompany  us  in  all  our  visits  and  peregrina- 
tions. This  courteous  attention  of  the  Moslem  Ruler  of  the 
country  made  all  our  excursions  and  studies  in  and  about 
Jerusalem  both  easy  and  profitable.  At  sight  of  the  Sul- 
tan's soldiers,  crowds  gave  way  and  all  gates  and  doors, 
mosques,  churches,  etc.,  .were  opened  at  once  and  with  all 
clue  ceremony.  We  shall  ever  bear  him  in  grateful  re- 
membrance :  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  model  Turkish  gentleman 
and  Governor. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Grand  Rabbi  of  Jerusalem, 
and  to  get  to  his  dwelling,  we  were  indeed  glad  to  have  the 
military  escort.  I  was  mounted  on  a  fine  white  donkey  who 
climbed  steps  and  stairs,  waded  through  pools  of  mud, 
and  traversed  hillocks  of  ofTal  with  perfect  ease  and  be- 
nignity. But  suddenly  he  stood  stock  still.  We  had  come 
to  an  arch  over  the  way  which  would  scarcely  admit  of 
the  passage  of  a  person  on  foot — and  I  must  be  lifted  off 
into  the  sea  of  offense;  and  how  those -two  gallant  soldiers 
managed  to  carry  me  through  must  ever  remain  a  mystery. 
This  remarkable  ride  had  put  me  in  a  cheerful  frame  of 
mind — for  inconveniences  do  not  easily  trouble  me — but  I 
dislike  filth,  and  now  my  spirits  almost  failed, — not  alone 
for  my  discomfiture,  but  at  finding  that  this  wretched 
way  was  the  only  approach  to  the  dwelling  of  the  High- 


JERUSALEM.  2 77 

Priest  of  Israel!  I  have  visited  the  slums  in  New  York 
and  London,  (in  Paris  there  are  none),  but  the  Jewish 
slums  in  Jerusalem  outdo  all  for  filth. 

But  now  we  were  fairly  out  of  the  mud  and  soon  turned 
into  a  small  door,  and  what  a  change !  Here  all  was  clean 
—so  clean  that  women  were  there  to  place  bits  of  carpet 
down  that  we  might  not  walk  upon  the  immaculate  floor-s. 
The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and  no  sign  of  dust  or 
dirt  must  be  within  their  dwelling !  It  was  not  a  palace 
where  dwelt  the  Grand  Rabbi  of  Jerusalem, — it  was  a 
rookery.  But  all  inharmoniuos  surroundings  and  circum- 
stances were  forgotten  when  we  stood  in  his  venerable 
presence.  Tall,  well-built,  with  great  dignity  and  grace, 
over  eighty  years  of  age — our  ideal  Abraham.  He  was 
clad  in  flowing  robes  of  light  mauve  cashmere,  and  a 
long  turban  of  plaited  silk  of  the  same  color.  To  his  ven- 
erable mien  was  added  a  most  affable  manner,  and,  un- 
like the  sober  Moslems,  a  constant  smiling  expression  per- 
vaded his  benevolent  face.  Jews  of  all  kinds  are  usually 
quiet  and  of  kindly  but  reserved  manners,  carrying  some- 
times a  solemn  contentment  in  their  faces  as  those  who 
possess  the  truth;  and  can  therefore  bear  all  things;  but 
they  are  never  sullen.  Jewesses  are  remarkable  for  their 
serenity  of  expression  and  their  self-possession.  Both  Jew 
and  Jewess  are  at  home  wherever  they  are,  adaptability 
being  one  of  their  strong  characteristics;  otherwise  they 
would  have  been  extinct  centuries  ago.  They  belong,  not 
to  Judea  alone  but  to  the  whole  world, — and  are  they  not 
the  "Chosen  People7'?  This  they  know. 

The  Grand  Rabbi  did  not  expect  us,  but  a  patriarchal 
welcome  was  ready.  He  spoke  Spanish,  being  of  the  Span- 
ish Rite,  as  are  most  of  the  native  Jews  of  Jerusalem, — 
so  we  got  on  very  well  and  discussed  many  things  relative 
to  the  state  of  his  people  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Palestine, 
where  they  are  numerous  and  increasing  more  perhaps 


278  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

than  elsewhere,  outnumbering  Moslems  or  Christians. 
Yet  they  live  retired  and  take  little  or  no  part  in  anything 
which  pertains  to  public  life.  Although  they  are  abso- 
lutely free  and  unmolested — indeed  freer  in  Turkey  than 
in  any  other  land — they  seem  a  hunted  down  people  in 
this  their  ancient  capital/ — in  spite  of  the  inner  and  in- 
timate satisfaction  of  living,  and  the  certainty  of  being 
buried  in  the  Holy  City.  Yet  through  and  over  all,  a 
calm  and  trusting  assurance  is  the  dominant  trait  of  the 
Jewish  face  and  character. 

The  Grand  Rabbi  returned  our  visit  in  state — as  be- 
came his  high  office — with  his  two  body-guards  and  other 
attendants  in  gold  trappings  and  long  scimitars.  As  he 
is  a  state  officer,  when  he  passed  before  the  Citadel,  which 
was  opposite  our  windows,  the  soldiers  gave  him  the  mili- 
tary salute  due  to  his  high  rank.  He  was  accompanied 
by  Nissim  Behar,  the  excellent  Director  of  the  Professional 
School  of  the  Jewish  Alliance  in  Jerusalem. 

Concerning  the  Jews  here,  I  long  to  write  at  length. 
But  alas,  I  can  only  identify  myself  with  their  waiting, 
with  their  wailing,  and  with  their  steadfast  faith  for  the 
Restoration  of  Jerusalem;  though  it  may  come  as  they  do 
not  expect;  but  better,  larger,  and  grander.  This  much 
I  must  say,  however,  that  in  good  behavior,  they  are  hon- 
orable and  friendly  rivals  of  the  Moslems.  Christians 
are  the  worst  behaved  of  all — particularly  the  Invading, 
the  Crusading  Christians. 

'Concerning  the  Jews  elsewhere,  I  must  say  that  man- 
kind is  still  capable  of  doing  anything  to  draw  down  the 
malediction  of  Heaven  upon  themselves.  And  this  is  be- 
ing done  by  some  of  the  Christian  people  and  governments 
who  in  other  things  take  lead  in  justice  and  measures  of 
Peace.  I  am  proud  of  my  Anglo-Saxon  race  that,  in  its 
righteous  treatment  of  the  Jews,  it  takes  the  lead,  as  did 
France  in  their  emancipation. 


GREEK  RITE  OF  WASHING  OF  FEET MAUNDY  THURSDAY,   IN  THE 

COURT  OF  THE   HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 


(The  entire  population  of  Jerusalem  is  represented  save  the  Jews. 
Moslem  women  are  seen,  and  also  a  battalion  of  Turkish 
soldiers  to  keep  the  Christians  in  order.  ..  .) 


Veiled 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


JERUSALEM.  2/O 

\Ve  make  but  one  reproach  to  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem: 
that  of  not  "cleaning  before  their  own  doors,"  while  within 
their  houses,  order  and  cleanliness  reign.  But  their  reply 
is  always  the  same:  "Street  sweeping  is  done 'by  the  mu- 
nicipality, and  we  cannot  interfere  with  it."  It  was  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  accept  their  reasoning;  and  we  determined  to 
do  something  ourselves.  Therefore,  from  our  first-day 
in  Jerusalem,  we  began  street-cleaning, — and  some  of  our 
friends  became  deeply  interested  in  this  reform  in  the  Holy 
City.  Mesdames  Lewis  and  Gibson,  those  learned  Anglo- 
Scotch  ladies,  twrin-sister  savant  es  in  Biblical  lore,  on  their 
way  from  Mount  Sinai,  (where  they  had  added  new  dis- 
coveries in  Scriptural  manuscripts),  and  Mr.  Gilder,  Edi- 
tor of  the  Century  Magazine,  (one  who  has  had  famous 
experiences  in  cleaning  the  American  Metropolis),  were 
among  the  first  who  joined  in  my  endeavors.  During  the 
latter  part  of  our  stay  in  the  Sacred  City,  the  street  before 
our  door  at  least,  w^as  cleaned  and  sometimes  watered, 
for  which  we  thank  His  Excellency,  Selim  Effendi,  the 
very  obliging  Moslem  Mayor  of  Jerusalem. 

Making  a  digression  from  our  dirt-visiting  tour 
through  the  city,  I  will  state  that  the  acme  of  kindness 
and  courtesy  we  met  in  the  Turkish  Empire  was  this : 
After  a  visit  from  the  Mayor  who  wished  to  know  if  he 
could  be  of  service  to  us,  I  remarked  in  a  somewhat  jocose 
manner  to  Youssef  Pasha,  the  former  Mayor,  who  wras 
present, — that  if  I  had  thought  of  it  in  time,  I  might  have 
asked  His  Excellency  to  have  the  shrill  bugle  of  the  Cita- 
del in  David's  Tower  opposite,  cease  its  call  every  quarter 
of  an  hour  during  the  night!  No  more  was  said  nor 
thought  of  on  the  subject; — but  as  long  as  we  remained 
irf'Jerusalem,  we  were  never  again  awakened  at  night  by 
a  bugle  blast! 

Imagine  the  Mayor  of  London,  Paris,  or  New  York, 
and  the  Commander  of  the  military  forces,  taking  into 


28O  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

such  consideration  the  sleep  of  an  old-lady  traveler !  Do 
unto  other  mothers  as  you  would  that  their  sons  should 
do  unto  yours,  is  a  religious  tenet  with  Mussulmans.  It 
is  meet  to  say  here,  that  we  have  never,  in  any  country, 
met  with  greater  courtesy  and  more  thoughtful  attention 
than  from  the  Turks,  nor  greater  charity  than  from  the 
Moslems. — I  must  add  a  propos  of  cleaning  the  Sacred 
City,  that  before  we  left  Palestine  wre  had  the  joy  of  hear- 
ing that  a  "company"  was  being  formed  to  bring  water  to 
Jerusalem!  This  is  certainly  its  greatest  material  need; 
and  we  thank  God,  if,  at  last,  the  crying,  reeking  reproach 
may  be  taken  away  from  our  Holy  City:  It  is  unclean! 

Now  to  a  more  agreeable  subject. 

The  second  day,  mounted  on  fine  strong  donkeys,  we 
circumvented  the  city  with  Youssef  Zia  El  Khalidy  Pasha 
as  our  guide.  Across  that  Hill  of  Zion,  under  the  arch 
of  the  Armenian  Patriarchal  Palace,  out  through  David's 
Gate — skirting  down  the  difficult  descent  into  the  valley 
of  Jehoshaphat — then  around  the  majestic  angle  of  the 
great  wall  of  Solomon's  Temple  and  up  to  the  Beautiful 
Gate,  near  which,  in  the  midst  of  the  velvety  green  sward, 
the  good  Pasha  led  us  to  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors,  among 
whom  is  Al-Kalad,  the  famous  Arab  warrior  of  the  fam- 
ily of  the  Prophet.  In  this  Moslem  cemetery  we  made  a 
long  halt ; — opposite  Gethsemane,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives 
and  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat, — gazing  and  pondering 
upon  the  wonderful  scenes  which  have  been  enacted  there 
for  5,000  years,  and  especially  upon  the  saddest  and  great- 
est of  all  human  events,  that  which  makes  the  History  of 
the  World, — Past,  Present,  and  Future. 

Here,  by  the  Beautiful  Gate,  I  should  like  to  be  buried. 

If  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  the  most  attractive  place  for 
Christians,  —  Solomon's  Temple  is  the  most  interesting- 
place  in  Jerusalem; — and  far  more  real  and  satisfactory. 
The  gigantic  ruins  testify  to  the  truth  of  history,  sacred 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


JERUSALEM.  28l 

and  profane,  as  well  as  to  the  grandeur  of  the  Great  Kings 
of  Israel.  There  is  no  doubt  here;  nor  has  the  worship  of 
the  true  God  altogether  ceased  from  its  midst  since  the 
day  when  Abraham  built  there,  on  Mount  Moriah,  its 
first  altar  for  the  immolation  of  his  only  son.  What  a 
marvellous  presage  of  the  Only  Son  of  Him  who  is  greater 
than  Abraham — of  Him  who  was  to  come  and  to  be  immo- 
lated on  these  heights ! — As  we  stand  in  the  midst  of  this 
great,  hallowed,  and  high  platform  of  Israel,  we  are  seized 
as  never  before  with  the  grandeur  of  the  Unity  of  the 
True  Faith  of  man.  Patriarchs,  Prophets,  Jewish  High 
Priests,  Christian  Apostles,  and  Moslems,  all  unite  in  the 
Cosmic  Truth  of  the  One  and  Only  God, — who  was,  and  is, 
and  ever  shall  be  proclaimed  here !  And  from  the  remotest 
period  of  their  coming  hither — through  all  the  turnings 
and  overturnings  of  race  and  empire, — during  the  Cap- 
tivity as  well  as  in  the  Roman  destruction,  down  to  our  day 
—the  prayers  of  Israel  have  never  ceased  to  ascend  from 
its  temple  in  Jerusalem !  The  vast  platform  or  Place  of  the 
Temple  still  exists  with  its  gigantic  basement  walls  look- 
ing to  the  south  and  east  over  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  Cedron,  and  Saloam.  Some  of 
the  massive  stones  of  the  wall  built  by  Solomon  still  exist. 
In  the  midst  of  this  great  foundation  plain,  near  where 
stood  the  magnificent  Temple  of  cedar  and  gold  of  Solo- 
mon, and  that  of  gold  and  gems  of  Herod, — stands  the 
Mosque  of  Omar — covering  with  its  vast  blue  dome  the 
rock  on  which  Abraham  would  offer  his  sacrifice.  Amid 
all  these  sublime  souvenirs  of  the  Past,  we  spent  the  whole 
spring  afternoon.  Ready  Moslem  hands  drew  for  us  cool, 
delicious  water  from  the  immense  cistern-w.ell  in  the  centre 
of  this  great  square,  and  as  we  meditated  through  the 
quiet  hours  beneath  the  old  knarled  olive  tree  which  grows 
there,  keeping  humble  company  with  the  tall  cypress  trees, 
— we  shuddered  at  the  retrospection  of  pillage  and  blood 


282  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

which  brought  into  ruin  this  sacred  edifice  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Faithful!  Blood  of  animals  and  blood  of  men! 
Heroes,  giants,  vassals,  kings,  saints  and  martyrs,  stand 
down  the  line  of  the  centuries,  all  covered  with  blood,  in 
the  midst  of  whom  is  the  saddest,  the  cruelest  scene  of 
all:  that  of  the  Cross  on  which  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
Helper  and  Healer  of  Humanity  —  the  Saviour  of  the 
world ! — was  nailed .... 

•  Among  those  who  accompanied  us  to  the  Temple  was 
a  Christian  Turkish  soldier,  sent  by  the  Governor,  who 
was  received  as  a  brother  by  all  the  Moslem  officials.  The 
venerable  Sheik  came  forward  to  meet  us  and  pointed  out 
the  interesting  places  and  recounted  the  most  important 
historical  incidents — many  of  which  we  knew  were  cor- 
rect,— some  of  which  we  believed  were  mythical. — Mos- 
lems, like  Christians  and  the  people  of  all  other  religions, 
have  their  legends  and  superstitions. 

One  of  our  first  visits  was  to  the  Armenian  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem,  a  venerable  and  most  affable  personage  who, 
to  my  great  delight,  spoke  my  native  tongue  perfectly,  hav- 
ing lived  many  years  in  America  (which  cannot  fail  to  be 
of  advantage  to  Orientals  and  others...)  The  Armenian 
convent  is  immense,  covering  a  large  part  of  Zion's  Hill. 
Its  theological  school  and  library  are  very  important,  and 
its  treasures  are  said  to  be  the  richest  in  Jerusalem.  Some 
of  the  sacred  vestments  are  surpassing  in  rich  gem-em- 
broidery:--pearls  by  thousands.  We  met  some  distin- 
guished minds  among  the  monks  of  this  great  monastery, 
and  certainly  we  have  never  met  greater  patriotic  loyalty 
to  one's  country,  (all  are  Turkish  subjects),  nor  greater 
Christian  resignation  in  the  suffering  for  the  people  of 
their  faith. 

We  had  the  great  privilege  of  partaking  of  the  Paschal 
Communion  in  their  ancient  Cathedral  of  St.  James.  It 
was  crowded  with  devout  worshipers  and  many  were  pil- 


JERUSALEM.  283 

grims  from  far  lands.  The  ceremony  was  most  interest- 
ing, entirely  Oriental  and  unlike  all  others — and  very  long, 
at  least  three  hours — but  not  too  long,  for  we  could  have 
gladly  remained  there  the  whole  long,  happy  day.  Much 
chanting,  processions,  and  incense.  The  walls  were  cov- 
ered with  old  paintings  and  rare  embroidered  drapery, 
banners,  and  pennants ; — and  swung  up  in  the  air,  in  sym- 
bol of  the  Resurrection,  are  many  large  white  Ostrich 
eggs. — The  Communion,  as  in  all  Oriental  Churches,  is 
given  with  bread  and  wine — the  Armenians  using  un- 
leavened bread — the  Greeks,  leavened. 

We  also  visited  the  Syrian  Patriarch  who,  although 
very  ill,  insisted  upon  receiving  us.  He  was  in  his  bed— 
which  was,  in  Oriental  manner,  upon  the  floor — his  clergy 
about  him.  It  was  indeed  a  touching  scene  and  a  most 
interesting  visit  for  us.  The  Syrians  resemble  in  faith 
and  rite  the  Armenians  and  Copts,  among  all  of  whom  is 
most  fraternal  sympathy. 

The  Abyssinians,  the  humblest  of  all  the  ancient  Chris- 
tians, are  under  the  protection  of  the  Copts.  They  are  a 
black  but  dignified  race,  piously  devoted  to  their  Emperor, 
Menelik,  who  is  styled  "The  King  of  Kings" — claiming  to 
be  a  descendant  of  King  Solomon  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba  : 
and  this  tradition  we  are  not  inclined  to  reject.  They  have 
a  pretty  new  church  on  the  hill  outside  Jerusalem,  and 
near  it  their  convent  for  men.  Unfortunately,  the  monas- 
tic parasite  is  strangling  all  the  Oriental  Churches  as  well 
as  the  Roman.  The  Abyssinian  convent  for  women  is 
on  the  roof  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  adjoining 
the  Dome,  in  the  garden  of  the  Coptic  Archiepiscopal  pal- 
ace, in  which  large  trees  are  growing — all  on  the  roof ! 
We  made  friends  with  these  good  people;  but  when  the 
worthy  and  dignified  abbot  and  his  clergy  returned  our 
visit,  our  German  Protestant  landlord  refused  to  let  them 
enter  his  house,  or  to  allow  us  to  receive  them  in  our  owa 


284  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM.  *    . 

parlor,  saying: — in  his  English — "They  be  no  true  priests, 
they  am  only  three  niggers!" — Such  is  Christian  charity 
under  the  shadow  of  Calvary's  Cross .... 

As  an  hour  passed  beyond  the  time  fixed  for  their  com- 

Iig,  we  went  upon  the  balcony,  scanned  the  street,  and 
lere  they  were, — meekly  waiting  outside  by  the  door! 
[y  husband  went  down  immediately  and  brought  them  in. 
o  our  ejaculation  of  indignation  at  the  brutal  manner 
which  they  had  been  sent  away,  the  abbot  only  quietly 
:plied:  "But  we  had  faith,  and  we  knew  that  God  wanted 
>  to  see  you;  so  we  waited  outside  till  you  came."-— Poor, 
ispised  race !  still  "waiting  outside"  !  But  never  mind— 
m  are  bought  free  by  the  Great  King — and  will,  in  His 
vn  due  time,  have  your  rightful  place  "within"  His  king- 
mi.  Bear  up! 

Then  we  visited  the  Maronites,  who  are  of  the  ancient 
Church  in  the  Lebanon  country.  They  are  the  only  Ori- 
ental Church  which  is  entirely  united  to  Rome.  From  the 
other  ancient  Churches,  Rome  has  succeeded  in  detaching 
comparatively  small  numbers.  Like  all  Uniates,  however, 
they  retain  their  primitive  rites  and  customs,  in  spite  of 
Rome:  the  Vernacular,  Communion  with  bread  and  wine, 
married  clergy,  etc.  I  asked  one  of  their  learned  members 
what  allegiance  his  Church  held  toward  Rome.  He  re- 
plied: "The  head  of  our  Church  is  the  Patriarch  of  Leb- 
anon; but  when  we  lack  a  quorum  in  electing  a  new  one, 
(which  is  rare),  we  send  to  Rome  for  the  vote  of  the  Pope; 
who,  as  a  brother  Patriarch  and  primus  inter  pares,  has 
the  right  to  the  balancing  vote.  He  has  no  spiritual  or 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  us." 

This  people  are  distinguished  for  their  intelligence, 
culture,  and  independent  ideas.  Not  only  in  Syria,  but 
throughout  all  the  Orient,  Maronites  are  very  frequently 
employed  by  the  different  governments  in  positions  of 
responsibility.  As  there  is  no  division  among  themselves, 


DAVID  s  TOWER; — OPPOSITE  OUR  HOUSE. 


JERUSALEM.  285 

they  are  not  given  to  religious  hostility;  but  are  peaceful, 
intelligent,  and  laborious.  Though  Turkish  subjects,  they 
have  in  Syria,  a  Christian  governor. 

After  the  ancient  churches,  we  visited  the  different 
modern  Protestant  sects,  of  whom  the  German  Lutherans 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  numerous.  The  Anglican  com- 
munity has  a  small  Gothic  church,  with  its  resident  Bishop. 
Formerly,  Prussia  and  England  sent  alternate  Bishops,  the 
last  of  whom  was  that  excellent  German,  Bishop  Gobat, 
whose  memory  is  cherished  in  affection  here  by  Christians, 
Jews,  and  Moslems.  He  lived  and  acted  the  faith  of  the 
Supreme  Bishop  of  all  men  without  distinction  or  ex- 
ception. We  had  the  satisfaction  of  occupying  the  house 
which  he  built  on  Zion's  Hill,  just  opposite  David's  Tower. 
It  is  of  Arabic  architecture,  high  ceilings,  large  court,  and 
galleries; — his  study  being  our  sitting-room. 

It  seems  regrettable  that  the  joint  action  of  the  English 
and  German  Churches  was  abandoned.  The  German  Lu- 
therans are  building  a  fine  Gothic  church  near  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  on  the  site  of  the  Hospital  of  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars.* There  is  also,  near  Jerusalem,  a  prosperous  reli- 
gious agricultural  settlement. 

Among  the  other  smaller  sects,  or  communities,  we 
visited  a  most  interesting  and  singular  one  which  is  lo- 
cated on  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  just  over  the  Damascus 
Gate;  and  is  called — -not  a  church  (I  am  glad  of  that)  but 
''The  American  Family."  They  are  about  forty  in  num- 
ber, mostly  Americans,  with  a  few  Scandinavians,  and 
Germans ;  and  claim  only  Christ  as  their  head  and  Bishop ; 
accepting  all  men  as  their  brethren.  They  are  given  to 
expounding  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  but  "not  to  doubtful  dis- 
putations," and  to  rendering  all  the  service  they  can  to 

*  This  church  was  completed,  and  was  dedicated  by  the  German  Emperor 
in  1900.  The  English  have  built,  quite  a  distance  outside  the  city,  a  fine  new 
church,  in  Mediaeval  Gothic  style,  with  an  Episcopal  residence. 


286  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

everybody; — particularly  to  teaching  English: — and  all 
gratis.  Many  of  the  best  people  in  Jerusalem  go  there 
for  lessons  —  Moslems,  Jews,  and  Christians.  Youssef 
Pasha  first  took  us  there  to  visit  this  family  and  joined 
in  the  quiet  reunion  of  prayer  and  sacred  song.* 

*  We  visited  this  "household"  again  in  1901,  which  now  occupies  several 
villas  outside  the  city,  and  numbers  over  200  men,  women,  and  children;  and 
are  prospering  under  a  refined  persecution  by  the  other 'Christian  sects,  whose 
spirit  would  add  lustre  to  that  of  the  Holy  Inquisition !  This  group  of  Chris- 
tians may  profess  heresies,  but  they  certainly  practice  charity — without  which 
all  is  naught.  One  error  is  a  fundamental  one :  they  are  opposed  to  marriage ; 
not,  if  I  am  well  informed,  because  of  its  inferior  state ;  but  because  of  the 
inferiority  of  the  contracting  parties,  who  usually  enter  upon  this  high  estate. 
One  remarkable  result  of  their  presence  is  that  they  are  the  only  Christian 
body  in  Jerusalem  which  has  the  confidence  of  the  Turkish  government,  under 
whose  auspices  a  young  American  lady  of  this  "American  Colony"  has  founded 
the  first  school  for  Moslem  girls; — and  with  very  great  success.  We  visited 
it  and  were  highly  pleased.  The  secret  of  their  success  is  that,  though  they 
keep  not  only  to  the  spirit,  but  to  the  very  letter  of  he  Bible  and  Christian 
Faith,  they  never  attempt  to  interfere  with  the  religious  faith  of  Moslems. 


.      CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

BETHLEHEM AND  HOW  WE  WERE  STONED  IN  HEBRON. 

April  1 6,  1896. 

ON  the  way  to  Bethlehem,  yesterday,  we  visited  the 
tomb  of  Rachel ;  and  read  again  that  most  touching 
of  all  Jewish  stories  of  love  and  devotion. 

And  now  we  are  in  the  second  most  interesting  place 
in  the  Christian  world.  If  there  are  reasons  for  doubting 
the  spot  where  He  was  crucified,  or  where  "they  laid 
Him/'  there  are  none  for  doubting  where  He  was  born. 
We  entered  the  stable  where  the  young  Child-Christ  lay 
with  full  faith. 

We  were  saddened  but  not  regretful,  as  the  situation 
is,  to-day,  with  us  Christians  in  Palestine, — that  there 
stood  in  the  sombre,  sacred  Grotto,  the  Mussulman  soldier, 
rifle  in  hand.  Last  year  two  Christians  were  murdered 
there  by  their  Christian  brothers  of  another  sect.  The 
less  we  say  the  better.  Only  this :  I  do  most  heartily  thank 
the  Turk  for  keeping  us  from  killing  each  other, — as  best 
he  can.  . .  .and  withal  so  courteously — I  may  say  so  affec- 
tionately. In  their  conduct  they  are  very  often  Christians ; 
in  our  conduct  we  are  often  savages. 

From  our  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Patriarch,  Gerasimous,  was  our  friend.  He  had  invited 
us  to  go  to  the  Greek  convent  in  Bethlehem,  adjoining  the 
Grotto,  where  we  were  delightfully  entertained  by  very 
intelligent  Ionian  monks.  The  convent  is  of  immense 


288  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

proportions,  solidly  built,  well  conducted,  and  given  to 
hospitality — as  indeed  are  all  the  convents  in  the  Orient; 
where,  save  in  large  towns,  hotels  are  unknown.  The 
Greek  Church  surpasses  in  this  Christian  virtue  which 
is  extended,  not  only  to  the  great  number  of  pilgrims  of 
their  own  rite  who  come  to  Palestine,  but  to  others. 

What  interested  me  most  after  the  Grotto  of  the  Birth- 
place, was  the  rock-hewn  chamber  where  Saint  Jerome 
translated  the  Bible  into  Latin,  aided  by  that  learned 

Christian  lady:  Paula. 

#     #     * 

Now  I  must  relate  the  saddest  incident  of  our  pilgrim- 
age. 

At  the  door  of  the  convent  of  which  we  speak,  we 
suffered  one  of  the  profoundest  humiliations,  mixed  with 
disgust,  which  ever  fell  to  our  lot,  and,  to  tell  the  whole 
truth, — which  we  suffered  with  holy  indignation. — Void 
F  incident'. 

Among  other  venders  of  trivial  wares  commonly 
called  objets  de  piete,  there  were  two  young  Christian 
girls,  well  dressed,  (indeed  they  had  a  small  fortune  of 
bangles  and  medals  upon  their  persons — which  showed 
that  they  were  not  among  the  poor,  but  of  a  certain  po- 
sition), holding  out  for  sale,  and  with  over-insistance, 
some  little  white  cakes  in  plaster.  When  we  asked  what 
they  were, — for  we  could  not  imagine  it, — they  told  us 
with  calm  and  sweet  impunity  that  they  were  "little 
cheeses  made  from  the  milk  of  the  Holy  Virgin !" 

For  once  I  sent  up  a  cry  to  the  immaculate  Mother  of 
Jesus,  asking  for.  her  pity  upon  these  miserable  little  Chris- 
tians whose  ignorant  parents  encouraged  such  a  disgrace- 
ful commerce  upon  this  holy  ground !  Here,  at  the  source 
of  all  purity  and  truth — here  on  the  spot  where  the  Holy 
Child  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mother — not  only  every 
Christian  sentiment,  but  common  decency  is  outraged  by 


BETHLEHEM. STONED   IN    HEBRON.  289 

this  lust  of  gold  and  such  repellant  fetish  as  cannot  be 
found  among-  pagans  —  much  less  among  Mussulmans ! 
Our  indignation  was  not,  however,  appreciated  by  the 
venders  who  only  smiled  at  our  incredulity ;  and  when  we 
appealed  to  the  intelligent  Abbot  who  was  conducting  us 
—for  we  were  on  his  own  grounds — he  was  profoundly 
mortified  and  said:  "I  can  only  say  in  my  deep  shame 
that  these  children  are  Christians,  but  not  of  our  rite; 
and  if  we  were  to  forbid  them  coming  to  our  premises 
to  sell  these  disgraceful  wares,  in  less  than  ten  minutes 
a  band  of  women — their  mothers — would  be  here  with 
cries  of  'persecution' ;  and  in  less  than  ten  minutes  more 
all  the  husbands  and  fathers,  and  all  their  friends  would 
come  and  add  to  the  clamor, — the  police  would  be  called 
in,  the  Government  informed,  and  another  story  of  'reli- 
gious persecution'  sent  out  to  the  world !" 

We  could  only  exclaim:  "May  God  deliver  the  Holy 
Land  from  all  this  unholiness!" 

I  only  regretted  that  I  could  not  remain  in  Bethlehem 
a  month,  in  deferential  respect  of  the  "Blessed  among 
women/'  and  try  what  moral  suasion  could  do  to  abolish 
this  most  abasing  and  abominable  traffic  which  is  practised 
in  the  very  place  where  she  carried  and  nursed  her  Sweet 

Child. HOW  Can  we  look  bona  fid?  pagans  nr  nnr  Mndpm. 

Jrrnth^s  in  the  face  after  that?  >f^T//ty 

If  the  different  pretending  Christians  of  Jerusalem 
were  indeed  the  followers  of  Jesus  and  possessed  of  any 
degree  of  respect  and  real  veneration  for  His  Holy  Mother 
—it  would  not  require  a  month,  or  a  day,  for  them  to  join 
together,  forgetting  their  differences  and  animosities  and 
put  a  stop  to  such  abominations  as  these, — which  are  a 
destruction  to  the  very  essence  of  Christian  faith  and  a 
shameful  disgrace  to  the  whole  Christian  civilization!— 
Moslem!  Jews!  pagans!  savages!  shut  your  eyes! — while 
God  goes  on  with  His  righteous  punishment ! 


2QO  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

How  We  Were  Stoned. 

From  Bethlehem  we  went  to  Hebron.  We  were  alone 
—my  husband,  myself  and  dragoman, — having  declined 
for  this  day  the  escort  of  the  Governor,  which  he  regretted 
afterwards, — but  we  did  not. 

Of  all  the  tombs  in  Palestine  where  there  is  no  place 
for  doubt,  it  is  the  tomb  of  Abraham. 

Hebron  is  certainly  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  world 
—being  built  before  Soan  or  Tanis,  in  Egypt.  It  \vas  al- 
ready an  ancient  city  when  Joshua  wrote  of  it — old  enough 
to  have  fallen  into  ruins  and  to  have  changed  its  name, 
for  he  says:  (see  Joshua  xiv,  15)  "And  the  name  of 
Hebron  before  was  Kirjatharba."  The  context  shows  one 
of  the  causes  of  its  ruin:  "and  the  land  had  rest  from 
war/'  The  first  mention  of  it  in  Sacred  History  is  in 
Gen.  xiii,  18.  "And  Abraham  removed  his  tent  and  came 
and  dwelt  in  the  plain  of  Mamre,  which  is  in  Hebron,  and 
built  there  an  altar."-— In  all  the  romance  of  profane  his- 
tory, nothing  equals  this  holy  and  true  romance  of  sacred 
lore — the  tender  love,  fidelity,  and  mourning  of  Abraham 
for  Sarah,  and  of  Jacob  for  Rachel. — The  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  which  consecrates  the  culminating  and  perfect 
love  of  the  true  Christian  marriage — -the  love  of  one  man 
and  one  woman  for  all  time — necessarily  throws  a  shadow 
upon  the  love  and  life  of  the  Patriarchs  whose  open  po- 
lygamy was  permitted — but  never  approved  of  God — no 
more  than  is  our  modern  hypocritical  polygamy.  Though 
there  is  no  law  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament  for  mon- 
ogamous, or  Christian  marriage,  nor  a  word  against  po- 
lygamy,— save  in  the  case  of  a  bishop, — from  the  earliest 
days  of  the  Gospel  there  was  undoubtedly  a  new  and  holier 
appreciation  of  marriage  which  means,  not  only  indis- 
solubility,  but  absolute  fidelity,  devotion,  purity,  and  right- 
eousness of  heart  as  was  before  unknown.  And  then. 


BETHLEHEM. STONED   IN    HEBRON. 

inevitably,  polygamy  began  to  disappear,  and  finally  the 
ideal  love  is  developed  in  man  and  woman.  The  absence 
of  any  literal  prohibition  of  polygamy  in  the  Bible  was 
what  misled  Luther  to  his  fatal  consent  to  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  having  two  wives.  In  the  absence  of  the  Letter, 
he  forgot  the  Spirit — which  error  his  followers  never  ac- 
cepted;— as  the  Germans  never  accorded  that  infallibility 
to  their  Reformer  which  the  people  of  Geneva  accorded 
to  theirs:  Calvin. 

Very  certain  it  is  that  all  through  the  history  of  the 
Patriarchs,  the  result  of  polygamy  is  sorrowful  and  de- 
structive to  human  happiness  and  to  spiritual  progress. 
Its  fruit  is  inevitably  bitterer  as  man  rises  in  dignity  and 
nobility  of  heart  and  conduct,  until  it  is  abandoned  with 
abhorrence  by  every  true  man,  and  rejected  by  every  in- 
telligent and  virtuous  woman.  In  the  gradual  training 
and  development  of  God's  people,  preliminary  methods, 
imperfect  rites  and  customs,  will  fall  away  and  perish,  as 
do  the  first  grosser  leaves  of  a  plant; — and  we  are  not  to 
gainsay  the  Creator,  but  obey  the  Divine  Governor  of  the 
world,  who,  in  spite  of  all  seeming  to  the  contrary,  is 
leading  Humanity  forward  and  upward  to  the  ultimate 
object  of  creation.  As  it  was  with  the  descendants  of  the 
Patriarchs  and  free  women,  so  it  will  be  with  their  chil- 
dren and  the  descendants  of  Hagar  "the  bond-woman." 
Certainly,  the  days  of  polygamy  are  numbered  in  Islam. 
Hebron  is  about  four  hours'  drive  from  Jerusalem. 
But  distances  never  tire  us  in  the  Holy  Land;  and  its 
pure,  tonic  air  renews  one's  overspent  strength  rapidly 
and  delightfully.  At  noon  we  found  ourselves  on  the  roof 
of  a  Jewish  house  (it  was  called  a  hotel,  whose  only  dis- 
tinction was  a  beautifully  painted  sign  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue — which  we  managed  to  read)  and  soon  enjoyed 
an  excellent  meal  of  eggs,  bread,  and  cheese — prepared 
by  Joseph,  our  good  Christian  dragoman. 


292  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

The  hostile  attitude  of  Mussulmans  here  was  such 
that  our  dragoman  thought  best  to  be  escorted  by  a  Mos- 
lem policeman,  who  served  us  as  a  guide;  and  when  he 
ascertained  our  kindly  sentiments  toward  his  faith  and 
his  people,  he  was  eager  to  serve  us.  Through  the  narrow, 
tortuous,  cobble-paved  streets  of  the  ancient  city — through 
the  market  place,  beneath  the  arched  ways,  we  climbed 
to  the  shrine  of  our  pilgrimage,  which  is  built  in  the  face 
•of  the  rock:  the  tombs  of  Abraham,  Sarah,  Jacob,  and 
Leah.  The  best-beloved  Rachel  sleeps  alone  in  a  desert 
waste,  by  the  wayside. 

Within  the  great  mausoleum  mosque  of  Mesjid-el- 
Khalil,  which  contains  these  tombs,  no  Christian  nor  Jew 
may  enter,  save  by  special  permit  of  the  Sultan.  Among 
the  few  others  who  have  received  this  privilege  was  our 
dear  Dean  Stanley  (of  beloved  memory!)  who  was  ac- 
companying the  Prince  of  Wales  (now  King  Edward 
VII)  in  the  East.  (How  well  we  remember  those  long 
winter  evenings  at  the  Deanery  of  Westminster  when  he 
gave  us  such  graphic  pictures  of  it  all!) 

The  mosque  is  of  great  height  and  built  of  gigantic 
blocks  of  stone,  some  of  them  measuring  twenty-five  feet 
in  length — and  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  and  most  an- 
cient specimens  of  Hebraic  architecture  in  existence.  Here 
sleep  the  great  prophets  who  are  also  our  fathers,  and 
fathers  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  Moslems.  I  hope  to  see  the 
day  when  we  all  have  free  entrance  within  the  sacred 
shrine,  as  is  our  divine  right; — and  I  hope  to  be  admitted 
myself. 

Our  escort  was  augmented  as  we  went,  and  when  we 
knelt  with  our  heads  against  the  outer  wall,  as  near  the 
tombs  as  possible,  the  crowd  fell  back  into  respectful  dis- 
tance, and  our  Moslem  guide  looked  very  sorrowful  that 
we  could  not  approach  nearer.  But  what  an  immense 
consolation  to  kneel  in  the  dust  even  at  the  outermost 


BETHLEHEM. STONED   IN    HEBRON.  2Q3 

gate  of  the  tombs  of  these  grandest  of  all  Israel's  Prophets 
and  Fathers! — There  is  little  else  to  see  in  Hebron  save 
the  ancient,  large  open  cisterns  which  continue  through 
ages  to  give  this  people  what  they  feel  is,  after  air,  the 
greatest  earthly  blessing — water. 

As  we  still  had  several  hours  at  our  disposal,  and  as 
my  husband  needed  rest — he  remained  in  his  quiet  room 
on  the  roof,  while  I,  with  our  dragoman  and  policeman, 
perambulated  the  old  city — going  through  the  bazars  and 
curious  streets,  which  are  always  of  interest  to  me,  study- 
ing the  people.  I  saw  several  green  turbans  among  the 
others  and  knew  they  were  sheiks  of  the  Prophet's  family, 
or  Hadjs,  having  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Upon 
asking  concerning  the  Imams  or  other  principal  men  of 
the  town,  I  ascertained  that  the  Grand  Mufti  was  not  only 
of  great  and  wide  learning  but  of  renowned  holiness.  I 
asked  to  be  conducted  to  his  house.  Such  a  step  on  the 
part  of  a  woman,  a  Christian  and  a  foreigner,  was  without 
precedence,  and  gave  evident  surprise,  if  not  misgivings, 
to  my  escort; — but  the  dragoman  was  well  known  and 
an  intelligent  Christian  guide;  and  my  policeman  being 
a  good  Mussulman,  said  without  hesitation:  "I  am  ready 
to  take  you  anywhere  you  command."-— I,  thereupon, -sent 
him  forward  with  my  card  (my  name  was  in  Arabic  as 
well  as  in  French)  to  inform  him  who  I  was  and  the  ob- 
ject of  our  travels.  He  returned  at  once,  his  face  beam- 
ing with  delight,  saying:  "Though  the  venerable  Mara- 
bout has  never  received  or  spoken  to  a  Christian  lady  in 
his  life,  he  begs  you  to  enter  at  once."  We  climbed  up  the 
steep  stair-street, — narrow,  and  not  as  clean  as  Paris  or 
Cairo,  but  much  cleaner  than  Jerusalem, — and  beneath 
an  arched  doorway,  so  low  we  had  to  stoop  when  entering. 
Remembering  the  magical  surprises  in  these  Oriental 
lands,  I  was  prepared  for  something  splendid  in  the  resi- 
dence of  this  grandest  personage  of  the  ancient  city.  But 


294  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

there  was  nothing  of  the  sort.  Only  something  better  than 
splendor:  extreme  simplicity  and  exquisite  cleanliness.  A 
great  square  room  with  bare  stone  walls  and  well  worn 
carpets  and  rugs — low  vaulted  ceiling  and  narrow,  for- 
tress-like windows,  which  admitted  but  little  light.  Com- 
ing out  of  the  bright  sunshine,  it  required  an  instant  to 
discern  the  interior.  Opposite  the  door,  and  between  two 
windows,  seated,  or  rather  reclining,  on  a  low  divan,  and 
thick  rugs  against  the  wall,  enveloped  in  dark  robes — was 
the  Grand  Mufti.  Of  venerable  age — some  say  over  a 
hundred — (Orientals  with  whom  the  lapse  of  time  is 
nought,  seldom  know  their  own  ages) — spare  and  frail 
in  form;  but  what  a  beautiful  head!  Beneath  the  white 
turban,  his  fine  broad  forehead  was  fully  exposed  and  a 
glance  was  sufficient  to  show  him  to  be  of  the  high-blooded 
Arab  race.  One  look  of  his  eyes  revealed  a  rare  intelli- 
gence, a  grand  soul,  beautiful  and  saintly — the  ideal  of 
St.  Jerome.  His  pale  complexion — his  hands,  models  of 
beauty,  strong  and  delicate — were  those  of  a  high-born, 
intelligent  and  saintly  lady ; — those  of  Saint  Paula ; — and 
what  surprised  and  pleased  me  was  that  in  one  he  held  a 
beautiful  rose.  (I  instinctively  felt  there  was  something 
more  than  color  or  perfume  in  that  rose.  We  shall  see. ) 
About  him  were  eight  or  ten  grave  Imams  or  Sheiks,  who 
arose  as  I  entered ; — he  was,  however,  too  old  or  to  feeble 
to  rise.  Upon  being  presented  to  him  in  due  deferential 
form  by  my  dragoman,  he  held  out  his  hand — which  is 
not  usual  with  Moslems — and  bade  me  be  seated  beside 
him.  I  accepted  the  kindly  invitation,  for  I  was  exhausted 
with  fatigue  and  emotion — though  it  required  an  effort 
as  I  was  not  yet  "broken  in"  with  the  Oriental  way  of 
sitting  on  crossed  feet; — but  I  finally  succeeded — feeling 
that  my  efforts  were  appreciated  without  destroying  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion.  Other  Imams  and  Sheiks, 
twenty  or  more,  dropped  quietly  in — for  the  news  of  this 


BETHLEHEM. STONED  IN   HEBRON. 

untoward  visit  had  spread  like  electricity  through  the 
town;  and  the  moral,  civic,  and  religious  forces  were  at 
once  concentrated  about  their  great  chief;  all  of  whom 
saluted  first  Ic  maitre,  and  then  me.  What  was  most  sur- 
prising to  me  was  that  no  one  else  seemed  the  least  sur- 
prised to  find  me  there !  and  though  every  eye  was  kept 
aloof --as  Oriental  respect  commands  —  very  certainly 
every  ear  was  bent  upon  me.  Coffee  was  brought  in  at 
once  and  then  cigarettes  were  offered.  All  accepted  the 
former — none  the  latter.  My  dragoman  was  an  educated 
Syrian  Greek  Uniate,  and  quite  equal  to  the  occasion  as 
interpreter.  Then  we  began.  I  explained  the  reason  of 
my  coming;  hoping  that  though  it  was  most  unusual,  it 
was  not  too  indiscreet.  The  reply  of  the  venerable  Mufti 
was  like  all  his  conversation — in  Scriptural  style:  "We 
are  all  allowed  to  go  every-whither,  and  into  any  company, 
in  search  of  truth ;  and  if  you  are  sincerely  seeking  truth, 
God  has  brought  you  here/'  Then  after  many  inquiries 
and  replies  concerning  health,  husband,  parents,  children, 
and  country,  we  entered  upon  our  grand  topic  of  Religion. 
Much  was  said  on  either  side — questions,  replies  and  re- 
citals— when,  at  length,  and  with  delicate  hesitation,  he 
said  he  wished  to  ask  a  leading  question; — and  before  it 
came,  I  noticed  that  several  Imams  and  Sheiks  were  speak- 
ing among  themselves  in  evident  agreement  and  aug- 
mented interest.  This  was  the  question:  "Why  is  it  that, 
if  you  take  such  interest  in  the  people  of  Islam  and  in 
their  religion,  and  believe  that  the  Koran  contains  so 
much  that  is  true, — why  do  you  not  become  Mussulman?" 
-That  was  indeed  the  question, — direct  and  fair.  Only 
my  cold,  hard  English  seemed  brutal  compared  with  his 
slow  prophetic  Oriental  speech.  I  felt  the  importance  of 
my  answer,  and  lifted  up  my  spirit  asking  wisdom  to  en- 
able me  to  speak  the  entire  truth  to  edification,  and  in 
charity,  that  does  not  offend.  I  did  not,  therefore,  reply 


296  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

rashly  or  quickly,  and  this  is  what  I  said:  "You,  venerable 
Mufti,  servant  of  the  true  God  and  learned  in  His  Holy 
Laws,  have  asked  of  me  a  straightforward  question;  and 
the  God  whom  we  both  adore,  giving  me  His  aid,  I  will 
answer  in  the  same  way."  Hereupon  the  Grand  Mufti 
raised  his  right  hand  to  his  forehead  and  all  the  sheiks 
and  Imams  followed  his  example. — I  continued:  "As  God, 
in  His  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  mysteriously  ordains  what 
is  best  for  His  .children, — giving  us  all  life  and  circum- 
stance of  birth  according  to  His  holy  will,  and  for  His 
ultimate  glory; — and  as  He  gave  me  birth  in  America, 
and  in  the  religion  of  my  fathers,  which  was,  above  all 
things,  a  religion  of  God,  and  not  of  man,  I  should  be  un- 
grateful to  Him,  and  disloyal  to  His  divine  administration, 
if  I  should  not  accept  with  obedience  and  thankfulness 
His  Holy  Will.  And  you,  no  doubt,  venerable  Mufti, 
think  the  same  concerning  yourself  and  your  religion ;  for 
God  has,  in  His  infinite  power  and  wisdom, — though  for 
reasons  known  only  to  Himself, — peopled  the  different 
lands  and  latitudes  of  the  earth  with  unlike  races  of  vari- 
ous colors — having  diverse  aptitudes  and  different  beliefs. 
Though  we  cannot  understand  His  reasons  for  so  doing, 
we  know  that  in  His  mysterious  ways  and  munificent  econ- 
omy, it  is  all  for  the  best.  Also  we  know  that  He  is  the 
Only  True  and  Living  God,  and  that,  as  we  are  created  by 
Him,  we  are  His  children ;  therefore,  brethren  throughout 
the  world, — and  being  brethren  we  should  love  one  another 
—as  you,  great  and  good  Mufti,  here  give  evidence  of 
doing  to-day  in  receiving  me,  an  unknown  woman  of  a 
distant  land  and  of  different  race  and  religion — with  such 
kindly  \velcome  and  hospitality, — believing  God  has  sent 
me.  I  thank  you  for  your  question  and  I  beg  you  to  re- 
ceive my  reply  as  being  dictated  by  my  conscience,  which 
is  the  voice  of  God  in  my  soul,  and  which  rules  and  governs 
my  life.  May  the  name  of  God  be  praised !" — At  the  name 


BETHLEHEM. STONED  IN  HEBRON.  2Q7 

of  Allah,  each  one  of  the  assembly  raised  his  right  hand 
to  brow  and  heart. 

I  had  finished  and  there  was  a  profound  silence. 

Then  the  Grand  Mufti  raised  his  thin  pale  hand  to  his 
forehead  with  an  ejaculation  in  which  I  heard  " Allah"  pro- 
nounced, and  then  held  it  out  to  me  in  a  cordial  grasp, 
while  a  murmur  of  approbation  went  round  the  -£oom. 
Then  he  said  to  me  in  low  yet  sonorous  accents  (and  I 
beg  pardon  of  my  reader  for  giving  it  as  my  interpreter 
gave  it  to  me)  : 

"You  are  a  holy  woman,  and  God  dwells  in  your  heart, 
and  He  has  indeed  brought  you  here!  He  has  evidently 
directed  your  words — may  His  name  be  praised !  You  are 
called  to  do  good  and  to  teach  people  to  shun  evil.  Your 
visit  is  a  blessing  upon  us.  You  must  go  to  Stamboul 
and  see  the  Khalif,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  be  very  glad  to 
see  you,  and  will  give  you  a  decoration; — you  must  cer- 
tainly go  to  see  him !"  The  Mufti  spoke  these  words  with 
emphasis.  Then  I  rejoined:  "I  thank  you,  great  and  ven- 
erable Mufti,  for  accepting  my  reply;  and  I  should  cer- 
tainly be  glad  to  see  and  converse  with  His  Majesty  the 
Sultan,  for  he  is  your  Khalif — the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful — but  I  do  not  wish  any  decoration.  To  do  God's 
will  is  better  than  to  hang  tinsel  and  jewels  about  one's 
neck.  I  have  a  very  great  consolation,  and  one  that  I  shall 
never  forget:  it  is  this  visit  to  see  you,  kind  and  holy 
Mufti."  Thereupon,  he  gave  me  his  benediction,  saying: 
"May  Allah  bless  you  and  bring  you  back  to  us  again!" 
I  then  took  my  departure,  feeling  that  I  had  been  in  the 
presence  and  converse  with  a  man  of  God,  whose  ancestors 
sleep  with  mine  in  the  tomb  of  Abraham,  in  the  great  ad- 
jacent Mosque,  of  which  he  is  the  guardian. 

But  the  rose?  I  felt  there  was  a  sequel,  and  in  walk- 
ing and  talking  with  our  police-soldier,  learned  that  the 
Grand  Mufti  had  a  lovely  young  wife. — Holiness,  love* 


298  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

and  roses  go  together. — Even  in  old  age — as  with  the 

Prophets.  .  .  . 

*     *     * 

The  carriage  was  waiting  for  us  at  the  little  Jewish 
Hotel;  we  must  return  to  Jerusalem.  In  the  exuberance 
of  my  contentment,  I  gave  away  all  the  backsheesh  I  had 
to  the  myriad  of  little  urchins  which  flocked  about  us  as 
we  bade  adieu  to  our  kind  policeman.  He  refused  the 
recompense  I  offered  in  money,  saying  his  services  had 
been  recompensed  by  being  our  guide  for  an  hour  or  two 
— which  would  remain  all  his  life. 

Unfortunately,  in  spite  .of  his  insistence  to  remain  with 
us  until  we  started,  we  sent  him  away  feeling  that  with 
three  hours  of  service,  and  his  refusal  of  all  remuneration, 
he  should  return  to  his  post.  He  reluctantly  withdrew. 
Then  the  crowd  of  children — girls  as  well  as  boys — in- 
creased, and  their  appeals  became  more  pressing.  But  my 
purse  being  entirely  emptied,  I  asked  the  Pere,  who  stood 
on  the  terrace  enjoying  the  scene,  for  his,  —  explaining 
that  they  were  not  begging — not  asking  for  money — only 
for  presents! — "backsheesh," — and  that  democratic  prin- 
ces like  us  were  expected  to  give  largely  to  the  sovereigns 
we  visit,  etc.,  etc.  But  1  noticed  that  while  my  husband 
and  I  all  enjoyed  this,  the  dragoman  did  not; — so,  jumping 
on  the  box  as  soon  as  we  were  in  the  carriage,  he  cracked 
the  whip  and  we  drove  off  with  a  flash.  Thereupon  a  shower 
of  stones  rattled  after  us — two  striking  me  and  falling  in 
the  carriage.  I  kept  them  as  souvenirs  of  these  little  Mos- 
lem rascals,  and  also  as  circumstantial  evidence,  which  I 
laid  with  complaint  the  next  day,  before  the  Governor  of 
Jerusalem — but  not  before  anybody  else; — for,  with  the 
already  fast  accumulating  cries  concerning  Moslem  fanat- 
ics against  Christians,  which  was  being  raised  by  trouble- 
seeking  travelers,  and  in  the  foreign  press,  we  had  no 
desire  to  make  an  international  affair  of  the  bad  conduct 


BETHLEHEM. STONED  IN  HEBRON.  299 

of  half  a  dozen  ill-bred  Arab  urchins  who  did  not  get  a 
satisfactory  "present"  from  us  at  Hebron!  Human  na- 
ture, especially  in  "street  Arabs,"  is  the  same  all  the  world 
over.  I  remember  a  shower  of  filth  I  had  seen  thrown 
into  a  fine  lady's  carriage  in  London  one  day,  by  a  band 
of  baptized  ragamuffins,  who  demanded,  but  did  not  get, 
their  backsheesh  for  turning  somersets  in  the  mud .  — .  ^ 

The  Governor  was  very  sorry  we  had  not  permitted 
his  escort  to  accompany  us;  but  we  were  too  happy  with 
our  day  for  any  regrets.  If  I  ever  go  to  Hebron  again, 
I  shall  not  take  an  escort,  and  I  shall  not  give  backsheesh 
or  "presents";  but  some  words  of  advice,  not  only  to  the 
ill-bred  urchins,  but  to  their  parents,  putting  the  Koran 
on  their  consciences.  And  I  shall  not  be  stoned  again 
by  the  villainous  little  beggars,  with  whom  religion  is  not 
in  any  wise  the  motive  for  their  misconduct. 

As  we  drove  slowly  up  in  the  still  twilight,  and  entered 
Jerusalem  by  the  Jaffa  Gate,  we  felt  like  tired-out,  happy 
children  going  home  after  a  long  and  exciting  day's  ab- 
sence;— and  very  grateful  also  to  those  miserable  little 
sinners  of  Hebron  that  they  had  not  had  a  higher  aim :  at 
my  head — instead  of  my  breast :  so  there  is  almost  always, 
even  in  disaster  or  ludicrous  adventure,  something  for 
which  to  be  grateful. 

That  night,  when  through  the  solemn  silence  of  the 
lorn  city  the  muezzin's  clear  pleading  went  out  for  prayer, 
I  remembered  the  little  Moslem  boys  who  stoned  us  at 
Hebron,  and  the  little  Christian  girls  who  sold  sacrilegious 
fetish  at  Bethlehem; — and  I  believe  I  prayed  most  for  the 
little  girls.  Then  I  rose  from  my  bed  and  looked  out  into 
the  deep,  blue  firmament  bespangled  with  the  consoling 
stars; — and  the  brightest  one  hung  in  the  south  over  the 
burying-place  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  which  was  before 
Mamre — just  beyond  the  lone  tomb  by  the  way  going 
down  from  Jerusalem  to  Hebron.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  XXXV, 

PERE    HYACINTHE    PREACHES    IN    JERUSALEM. 

•  A  MONG  the  pilgrims  constantly  coming  to  Jerusalem, 
/~\  there  was  one  group  especially  interesting  to  us, 
as  it  was  composed  of  kith  and  kin; — and  it  came  about 
that  Pere  Hyacinthe  addressed  this  company  of  English, 
Scotch,  and  Americans,  in  the  large  drawing-room  of 
Howard's  Hotel; — just  outside  the  Jaffa  Gate.  There 
were  present,  besides  various  Christians,  some  Moslems 
and  Jews.  After  this  the  residents  of  Jerusalem,— also 
Christians,  Moslems,  and  Jews,  were  unceasing  in  urging 
him  to  speak  to  them.  But  public  speaking  was  unheard 
of  in  the  Holy  City.  How  could  it  be  done? — I  went 
myself  to  obtain  permission  of  the  Governor.  He  was 
evidently  pleased  with  the  project,  and  asked  the  subject 
of  the  proposed  discourse.  It  was  this :  The  Reconciliation 
of  Religions.  He  accorded  his  permission  at  once,  saying : 
"I  have  full  confidence  in  Pere  Hyacinthe,  whose  work 
is  of  Divine  Inspiration." 

There  being  no  newspapers  printed  in  Jerusalem- 
save  a  tiny,  weekly,  ecclesiastical  sheet  in  Hebrew,  for 
the  Jews; — the  only  method,  therefore,  of  publicity  was 
by  distributing  circulars  throughout  the  city.  This  was 
done  by  the  consent  of  His  Excellency ;  and  two  thousand, 
printed  in  French,  Arabic,  and  Hebrew,  were  sent  out 
at  once — bearing  the  stamp  of  the  "Turkish  Government. 

As  Pere  Hyacinthe's  spiritual  platform  is  anti-secta- 


PERE  HYACINTHE  PREACHES   IN   JERUSALEM.         30! 

rian,  his  place  of  rendezvous  must  be  neutral ;  and  this  was 
our  hotel:  in  the  large  drawing-room,  adjacent  corridors, 
court,  terrace,  and  stair-case;  where  hundreds  of  the  resi- 
dents of  the  city  crowded  in  and  listened  eagerly  to  the 
New  Gospel  of  Universal  Love.  All  the  Oriental,  and 
most  of  the  other  Churches,  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  and  the 
Synagogue,  sent  delegates ; — and  the  Turkish  Army_  was 
represented  by  several  high  officers.  The  approbation  of 
the  audience  was  manifested  by  frequent  and  earnest  ap- 
plause. At  the  close  of  the  Conference,  there  was  an  in- 
formal and  general  reception,  with  never-to-be-forgotten 
expressions  of  appreciation  and  gratitude  from  all  parties 
who  were  as  surprised  as  grateful  at  such  a  reunion  in 
Jerusalem ! 

One  Patriarch,  upon  hearing  of  this  unlooked-for 
event,  wept  for  joy,  exclaiming:  "Is  it  possible  that  this 
has  come  to  pass  in  my  day?  It  is  the  first  time  that  the 
people  of  Jerusalem  have  heard  such  accents  since  the  day 
when  Jesus  preached  them  in  these  streets."-— It  was  very 
certain  that  the  satisfaction  and  gratitude  was  unanimous 
among  the  representatives  of  the  three  great  monotheistic 
religions  who  alike  claim  this  as  their  Holy  City;  and  I 
think  I  may  say  that  it  was  equally  certain  that  Pere 
Hyacinthe  felt  that  this  was  the  crowning  event  of  his 
ministry:  To  preach  a  free  Gospel  in  Jerusalem! 

A  propos  of  this  event,  and  inspite  of  extreme  reluc- 
tance, and  only  at  the  insistence  of  Moslem  and  Christian 
friends,  I  will  relate  the  following  curious  fact — giving 
it  for  what  it  is  worth.  Monsieur  Paul  de  Regla,  the  dis- 
tinguished French  Oriental  traveler  and  writer,  has  told 
us  and  published  (in  1895)  the  following  concerning  the 
prophetic  mind  of  the  Arabs. 

A  few  years  ago  in  Arabia  there  died  an  aged  Sheik 
who  was  held  in  great  veneration  because  of  his  profound 
piety  and  a  wonderful  gift  of  prophecy.  I  quote  from 


3O2  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Monsieur  de  Regla:  "Twenty-five  years  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  about  twelve  years  ago,  he  wrote  what 
he  called  'The  Government  of  God  Among  the  Nations  of 
the  Earth/  And  it  is  assured  by  reliable  persons  that  most 
of  his  predictions  have  come  to  pass.  This  is  what  he 
wrote  concerning  France  for  the  year  1896:  In  that  year 
there  will  be  a  meeting  of  great  fleets  in  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  France  will  be  allied  to  great  powers  who  are  not 
Latin ;  and  in  that  same  year,  there  will  come  to  us  in  the 
Orient  from  France,  a  Priest,  a  holy  man  who  represents 
no  visible  Church — but  God  only;  and  he  will  preach  to 
us  drawing  all  hearts  to  Allah/' 

This  prophecy  was  known  in  the  Orient  and  was  doubt- 
less thought  to  be  one  reason  why  Moslem  hearts  were 
so  open  to  Pere  Hyacinthe,  who  was  there  in  the  year 
1896;  and  it  was  in  the  same  year  that  the  squadrons  of 
the  Great  Powers  sailed,  in  the  interest  of  peace,  through 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  Bosporus;  and  the  Alliance  of 
Russia  and  France  was  already  accomplished. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE   JORDAN. GREEK   CONVENT. DEAD   SEA. 

A  FTER  many  days,  when  we  had  visited  well  the  holy 
J~\  places  of  Jerusalem,  we  must  needs  go  to  the  Jor- 
dan. Youssef  Pasha  accompanied  us,  and  his  knowledge 
of  the  past  and  present,  as  well  as  of  many  languages, 
made  him  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  companions  and  guides.  Our 
escort  consisted  of  his  body-guard,  our  Coptic  dragoman, 
and  a  Jewish  coachman. 

Out  through  the  Jaffa  Gate  in  the  early  spring  morn- 
ing, with  the  air  full  of  aromatic  odors  mixed  with  incense 
and  sandal  wood  which  linger  in  the  sacred  atmosphere; 
our  hearts  full  of  happiness, — passing  up  through  the 
new  quarter  and  by  the  "Green  Hill,"  (which  more  and 
more  I  am  tempted  to  believe  is  Golgotha),  then  by  the 
Gate  of  Damascus,  near  which,  coming  down  from  Galilee, 
is  a  large  encampment  of  Bedouins  with  their  camels  and 
sheep  and  children; — then,  turning  the  angle  of  the  city 
wall  to  the  right,  and  leaving  the  plain  of  the  Crusaders 
to  the  left.  —  across  the  green  embankment  before  the 
Beautiful  Gate, — down  over  the  brook  Cedron,  beneath 
the  sacred  old  gnarled  trees  of  Gethsemane, — on  through 
the  Jewish  cemetery,  skirting  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat; 
then  we  halt  on  the  side  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  turn 
to  behold  the  Holy  City  in  the  rising  sun !  It  was  the  most 
glorious  vision  that  Christian  eyes  can  ever  behold  in  this 
life:  Jerusalem  the  Golden! 

Its  reflex  glory  shone  on  the  face  and  in  the  heart  and 


304  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

faith  of  us  all :  Israelite,  Christian,  and  Moslem. —  A  deep 
religious  exultation  seized  upon  us,  and  exclamations  of 
joy  and  praise  went  out  from  our  lips!  To  see  this  one 
scene  for  an  instant,  was  worth  the  whole  long  pilgrimage ! 

/  was  satisfied! 

A  short  hour  further  on,  to  Bethany  where,  within 
the  Greek  church,  the  Archimandrate  showed  us  the  sacred 
place  where  Jesus  came  to  visit  his  loving  friends :  Mary, 
Martha,  and  Lazarus.  In  leaving,  he  made  us  each  a 
little  souvenir-bouquet  from  the  garden  where  certainly 
their  feet  had  trod.  Then  on  and  up  among  the  hills  of 
Judea, — through  that  waste  of  gray,  treeless  hills  of  shale 
and  sand  and  rock; — through  waterless  ravines  and  deso- 
late mountains — tinged  only  in  parts  with  a  petite  mauve 
immortelle  flower,  as  if  sheen  gauze  had  fallen  down  from 
heaven  to  cover  in  love  their  nudity; — while  other  places 
were  starred  with  innumerable  daisies,  which,  seen  or 
unseen  of  the  passer-by,  alone  in  the  sorrowful  desert, 
had  nothing  to  do,  and  from  whom  nothing  was  expected, 
but  to  look  lovely  and  upward  into  the  blue  sky  every  day 
of  their  lives — worshiping  God.  We  call  them  "Margue- 
rites" in  French,  which  name  I  prefer,  as  it  is  that  of  my 
beloved  soul-daughter  whose  love  and  prayers  are  follow- 
ing us  wherever  we  go. 

The  sun  beats  hot,  and  how  can  we  escape  it  where 
there  is  no  possible  shade?  All  travelers  in  such  heat 
should  use  umbrellas  and  never  forget  to  carry  bottles  of 
water  well  enveloped  in  woolen  stuff  to  keep  it  cool,  with 
which  to  moisten  the  white  kerchiefs  on  their  heads.  You 
pity  your  poor  coachman  who  sits  in  the  broiling  sun  all 
day — but  he  laughs  when  you  offer  him  your  parasol,  and 
says:  "Oh  I  thank  you  very  much,  but  I  don't  mind  the 
sun."  And  you  will  also  pity  the  poor  beasts  who  drag 
you  through  it  all; — and  if  you  are  humane  you  will  for- 
get your  own  discomfort;  and  if  you  are  not,  try  to  be 


SYRIAN  DRAGOMAN  OR  GUIDE. 


THE   JORDAN. GREEK   CONVENT. DEAD   SEA.          305 

angelic ;  count  the  daisies  and  listen  to  the  chirping  of  the 
merry  insects  that  fill  the  air  with  their  worship,  for  they, 
too,  like  the  sun ; — and  if  the  heat  is  still  unbearable  count 
the  thornbushes  by  the  wayside. — Ah,  the  thorns !  all  along 
the  way  from  Jerusalem  to  the  Jordan! — they  will,  per- 
haps, help  you  to  forget  yourself .... 

Up,  slowly  up  the  long  ascent,  and  at  high  noon-we 
see  the  \valls  of  the  welcome  Khan — the  half-way  stopping 
place — with  rest  for  the  horses  and  shade  for  us  all. 

The  long  three  hours'  halt  gave  ample  time  for  siesta 
and  conversation;  and  better  than  volumes  was  the  Pasha's 
knowledge  imparted  to  us  of  the  past  and  present  of  Pal- 
estine, Turkey,  and  Judea. 

Again  on  the  downward  way,  he  recalled  to  us,  if  not 
in  words,  still  more  vividly  in  action,  that  sublime  teaching 
of  our  Lord  in  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan  going 
from  Jerusalem  down  to  Jericho — perhaps  on  this  very 
spot.  .  .  .certainly  by  this  same  way. 

As  we  rode  through  the  hot  afternoon  I  wrote  on  the 
fly-leaf  of  my  guide  book  this  parody,  which  is  a  true  story : 

"Once  upon  a  time  there  went  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho  a  great  Pasha  who  was  of  the  tribe  of  Abraham 
and  Hagar,  a  subject  of  Abdel-Hamid-Khan,  and  of  the 
family  of  Mohammed  the  Prophet,  a  devout  believer,  who 
worshiped  God  and  loved  his  fellow-man, — even  Chris- 
tians and  Jews, — and  had  pity,  respect  even,  for  inferior 
brethren — dumb  beasts.  And  as  he  drove  down  the  rocky 
road,  with  friends  from  far  lands,  suddenly  the  horses 
shied — for  before  them,  almost  across  the  road,  lay  one 
of  their  kind — dead.  Then  the  company  all  alighted  from 
their  landau,  and  the  Pasha  with  friendly  admonitions 
to  the  horses  in  their  own  tongue — for  they,  too,  were 
of  the  Arab  race,  and  accustomed  to  the  masterly  drpjo- 
macy  of  walking  around  difficulties^Now  appeared  a  group 
of  travelers  whose  horses,  also,  shied  and  whose  riders 


306  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

cursed  (they,  the  riders,  were  Christians)  who,  after  fur- 
ther fruitless  attempts,  were  forced  to  dismount  and  also 
circumvent  the  obstructions  as  best  they  could."  Then 
we  drove  on  slowly;  (here  I  drop  the  parabolic  style)  — 
only  I  noticed  that  the  Pasha  kept  an  anxious  eye  before 
us  down  the  road, — and  anon  we  descried  far  down  the 
winding  way,  a  wandering  family  of  Bedouins  coming 
up.  Then  the  Pasha  spoke  a  few  low  words  in  Arabic  to 
the  coachman  and  the  body-guard.  The  carriage  stopped 
and  both  these  men  got  down.  Why  we  stopped,  I  could 
not  imagine,  but  something  told  us  it  was  not  a  time  to 
ask  questions. 

When  the  Bedouins  came  up, — they  wrere  three  men, 
two  women,  and  several  small  children,  a  donkey  and  three 
black  sheep, — the  Pasha's  guard  advanced  down  the  road 
and  opened  parley  with  them.  Then  he  returned  to  us 
with  an  affirmative  look;  (it  is  amazing  how  much  these 
Arabs  say  in  a  few  words!)  and  immediately  our  coach- 
man began  to  haul  out  from  beneath  the  box  sundry  straps 
and  ropes.  The  Pasha  took  the  reins  and  our  coachman 
and  the  guard  joined  the  Bedouin  family — all  of  whom 
saluted  the  Pasha  with  very  low  salaams — and  walked 
back  up  the  road — carrying  the  ropes;  but  they  did  not 
walk  very  fast.  All  kept  pace  with  the  little  black  lambs 
and  the  little  dusky  tots  of  children.  There  was  no  use 
being  in  a  hurry — time  is  not  money  in  this  dear,  sacred 
land — and  it  was  still  very  hot. 

Of  course  our  curiosity  (I  mean  the  curiosity  of  the 
foreign  couple)  was  very  keen;  and  we  turned  our  eyes 
backward  up  the  road.  Soon  the  group  arrived  at  the  dead 
horse,  and  in  about  two  minutes,  with  quiet  dexterity,  and 
without  any  loud  words,  or  cursing,  or  ordering  about; 
but  with  unity  of  action,  in  which  all  joined:  men,  women, 
and  children — and  even  a  little  black  lamb  tried  to  help 
by  flirting  his  little  feet  up  against  the  back  seat  of  the 


THE   JORDAN. GREEK    CONVENT. DEAD    SEA.          307 

Hebrew  driver  just  as  he  was  bending  over  to  put  on  the 
slipping  noose.  .  .  .and.  .  .  .b'r — r — r!  the  dead  horse  was 
hauled  down  the  declivity — and  the  highway  was  clear ! 
And  we  went  quietly  on  our  way  to  the  Jordan. 

I  will  give  here  the  sequel  to  this  object  lesson. 

Three  days  after,  when  the  afore-mentioned  party  re- 
turned from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem,  as  they  approached-  the 
spot  of  the  incident  just  narrated, — all  eyes  were  turned 
with  eager  remembrance  toward  the  scene;  but,  while  yet 
afar  off,  the  quick  sight  of  our  Israelite  coachman  pointed 
to  the  sky. — There,  far  above  the  piled  up  hills  of  Judea, 
high  in  the  deep  blue  sky  of  Canaan,  swung  heavy,  great- 
winged  beasts ;  —  and  when  we  finally  approached  the 
place,  we  found  ajbattlefield  of  disgusting  carnage.  Scores 
of  huge  vultures  were  swooping  down  and  wallowing 
about — disputing  the  prey!  There  was  no  semblance  of 
the  dead  animal  we  had  left  there  three  days  before, — only 
a  cage  of  bare  ribs  from  which  these  great  ungainly,  lum- 
bering birds  gulped  with  ravenous  beak  the  reeking  offal, 
and  hobbled,  scarcely  able  to  fly — so  ponderous  were  their 
huge  over-glutted  maws, — beating  the  air  with  their  un- 
couth, sagging  wings — pulling,  tearing,  and  screeching; 
fighting  for  the  long-drawn  entrails  of  the  noble  Arab 
steed  which  had  fallen  in  the  hot  dusty  highway — doing 
faithful  service  for  some  cruel  master! 

Now  we  go  on  with  our  journey,  and  are  approaching 
Jericho — still  descending  among  the  arid  hills.  We  stopped 
several  times  to  repair  the  road  for  those  who  came  after 
us;  for  this  is  the  manner  here  in  which  the  highway  is 
kept  in  order:  each  passer-by  repairs  it  for  his  follower. 
(Another  Moslem  object  lesson.)  What  the  Turkish 
Government  fails  to  do,  Moslem  charity  undertakes. 

With  eyes  strained  toward  the  East,  we  catch  occa- 
sional glimpses  of  the  summit  of  the  Moabite  mountains 
beyond  the  Jordan ; — and  now,  as  we  turn  around  a  jutting 


308  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

rock — lo!  at  our  feet  lies  the  plain  of  Jericho — the  richest 
in  the  world !  —  that  treasure-garden  which  Pompey 
thought  meet  for  a  marriage  gift  to  Cleopatra!  But 
above  all,  it  is  rich  in  Divine  and  human  events, — and  in 
Biblical  History! 

We  got  down  from  our  carriage  and  climbed  a  lone, 
overlooking  crag  to  gaze  upon  this  amazing  scene  of  deso- 
lation! Was  that  clump  of  Arab  huts  and  Bedouin  tents 
all  that  remained  of  the  capital  of  that  Promised  Land? 
whose  riches  had  incited,  and  whose  glory  had  inspired 
the  long  wandering  of  Moses,  and  his  nation,  in  the  ter- 
rible wilderness?  Was  this  indeed  all  that  remained  of 
the  great  school  of  the  Prophets  ? 

An  hour's  descent  on  foot — for  the  road  is  like  a  stair- 
case;— but  where  is  the  Jericho  of  to-day?  There  is  no 
town  visible,  only  a  cluster  of  a  few  huts  and  tents  and 
a  score  of  small,  modern  houses.  We  stopped  before  the 
little  inn  to  rest  our  horses;  then  an  hour's  drive  across 
the  sandy  plain  to  the  Greek  convent  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan.  When  about  midway, 
the  Pasha  signed  to  the  coachman  to  halt,  and  bending 
our  ears  we  caught  the  musical  notes  of  a  far-off  chime 
of  sweet  bells,  trembling  through  the  air. 

"They  see  us,"  he  said,  "and  that  is  their  \velcome, 
those  good  monks  keeping  the  Jordan." 

We  were  guests  of  the  Greek  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem 
and  carried  his  imposing  letter,  duly  signed  and  sealed; 
but  the  Abbot  was  already  apprised  of  our  visit. 

The  burning  sun  was  sinking — pouring  molten  gold 
on  the  sand  as  it  went.  The  Pasha  now  gave  a  sign  to 
urge  the  horses  on,  saying  to  us,  "We  must  see  the  setting 
sun  from  the  battlements." 

Nearer  and  nearer,  clearer  and  clearer  they  sounded, 
these  sweet,  loving  bells, — welcoming  us  into  the  lone  for- 
tress of  faith  on  the  silent  bank  of  the  Holy  River ! 


THE  JORDAN. GREEK  CONVENT. DEAD  SEA.  309 

It  is  a  fortified  convent,  and  the  only  building  in  all 
the  country  round, — solidly  built  of  stone; — the  single, 
iron  door  in  the  thick  wall  just  large  enough  to  permit  a 
horse  or  camel  to  enter,  and  can  easily  be  barred  within. 
It  Has  stood  siege  from  marauders  more  than  once;  but 
for  many  years  all  is  safe  and  peaceful  in  Palestine. 

The  Abbot  and  the  French-speaking  friar-  eould 
scarcely  express  their  joyful  welcome  to  us  in  any  tongue 
known  to  us — but  the  good  Pasha  helped  them  in  their 
rapturous  dilemma — and  then  they  led  us,  first  for  a  short 
thanksgiving  prayer  in  the  chapel  in  the  great  square  on 
the  battlement  roof; — then  up  on  the  broad  high  terrace 
on  the  top  of  the  large  square  tower. 

Fitter  than  all  others,  for  true  pilgrims,  is  the  vast 
Cathedral  whose  blue,  bending  dome  of  infinite  space  is 
the  heavens ! — There  is  worship,  free  and  full. 

To  the  north  a  low  vaporous  horizon  melting  into  the 
far  blue  firmament;  to  the  south  the  Dead  Sea;  to  the  east, 
and  near  us,  the  mountains  of  Moab,  turned  into  moun- 
tains of  glowing  bronze,  with  their  face  toward  the  setting 
sun ; — and  to  the  west,  all  rimmed  in  burnished  gold — the 
hills  of  Judea.  From  their  distant  summit  a  white  needle 
pierces  the  air.  It  is  the  campanile  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
above  Jerusalem:  the  wratch  tower  of  Israel  looming  up 
over  its  wasted  domain!  Great  angels  of  the  Past  were 
keeping  anxious  watch  over  the  four  corners  of  that  Holy 
Horizon ! 

As  long  as  life  lasts, — and  beyond — who  knows? — we 
shall  remember  that  resplendent  sunset,  and  the  glorious 
night  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 

The  shades  deepen — and  now  the  bells  begin  to  chime 
again — and  across  the  shimmering  plain  come  great  cara- 
vans of  pilgrims.  All  meet  a  kindly  welcome,  and  all  are 
provided  with  food  and  beds — over  three  hundred — mostly 


3IO  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

Russians.  Within  its  vast  enclosure  the  convent  can  re- 
ceive five  hundred  at  a  time. 

Slower — softer — chime  the  bells.  And  now  the  mel- 
ancholy gray  of  the  coming  night  falls  upon  the  desolate 
plain  of  the  Promised  Land. 

Looking  down  into  the  great  court  where  a  bright 
fire  was  now  lighted,  we  could  witness — but  turned  away 
with  poignant  regret — the  killing  of  a  kid  for  our  supper. 
The  monks,  however,  eat  no  meat,  nor  do  the  pilgrims; 
but  we  \vere  considered  as  peculiar  guests,  requiring  "fat- 
ted" creatures:  cannibals  that  we  are!  devouring  the  ca- 
davres  of  our  inferior  brethren !  Had  we  known  the  in- 
tention of  the  hospitable  monks,,  we  should  have  forbidden 
it;  but  the  Abbot  smilingly  drew  the  Patriarch's  letter 
from  his  pocket  holding  it  up  before  us  saying:  "I  have 
orders  from  my  Superior."  We  insisted,  however,  and 
were  assured,  that  the  kid  should  not  be  "cooked  in  its 
mother's  milk."  It  was  roasted  upon  the  huge  open  fire 
in  the  immense  kitchen  whose  glow  contrasted,  to  our 
shameful  condemnation,  with  the  holy  radiance  of  the  stars 
set  in  the  far  firmament! 

Looking  down  from  the  terrace  on  which  were  our 
rooms,  or  cells,  we  were  much  interested  in  the  prepara- 
tions made  for  the  pilgrims.  We  saw  tea  being  made  for 
the  Russians, — and  what  a  tea-kettle!  It  was  too  large 
to  be  indoors  and  was  set  up  in  the  court  on  a  furnace. 
It  held  a  hogshead.  It  was  Lent,  and  tea  with  spare  bread 
composes  almost  the  entire  diet  of  the  Russian  pilgrim 
now. 

The  kid  Avas  delicious — no  doubt,  but  we  did  not  taste 
of  it — we  could  not.  .  .  .The  supper  wras  over-abundant, 
and  there  were  all  sorts  of  conventual,?  but  not  conven- 
tional things  to  eat,  and  thorough,  good,  religious  cheer. 
We  did  not,  however,  linger  long  at  the  board  but  hurried 
to  the  tower  again  and  gave  ourselves  to  the  outer  and 


THE  JORDAN. GREEK  CONVENT. DEAD  SEA.  3!  I 

superior  world.    And  now  over  the  landscape  came  a  soft 
afterglow  of  the  magnificent  day ! 

The  blue  lines  of  the  horizon  were  fading;  the  golden 
glare  of  the  Moab  mountains  had  melted  into  beautiful 
opaline  tints;  the  Dead  Sea  was  a  sharp,  white  line  of 
silver — the  plain  of  Jericho  enfolded  in  a  royal,  purple 
mantle;  the  stars — those  sacred  stars  which  had  twinkled 
down  upon  the  fair  land  which  Moses  could  only  see  from 
afar, — were  sending  down  their  messages  still. — Here  we 
thank  our  Divine  Father  for  bringing  us  to  this  wonder- 
ful, mysterious  land  of  Promise! — Though  the  earth  be 
dead — Christ  liveth! — A  gcnouxl 

Far  against  the  paling  western  sky  was  the  white, 
faintly  discerned  line  from  Olivet,  over  Jerusalem,  like* the 
Finger  of  God  pointing  to  Heaven,  as  the  final  hope  of 
this  sad,  wicked  world  in  the  coming  night.  ... 

The  next  morning  we  went  to  the  Dead  Sea.  It  was 
an  hour's  drive.  We  bathed  therein.  I  was  certainly 
disappointed  concerning  its  buoyancy — for  I  had  almost 
expected  to  walk  on  it ....  But  though  I  could  not  sink, 
I  could  undoubtedly  have  been  drowned  very  easily,  had 
I  not  taken  great  care.  Its  water  is  clear  and  sparkling, 
but  very  salty  and  bitter  to  the  taste,  and  its  effect  was 
certainly  strange,  I  might  say,  miraculous.  I  did  not 
remain  in  it  over  three  minutes,  but  it  gave  me  such  a 
glow  of  warmth  with  visible  determination  of  blood  to 
the  surface,  and,  with  breathing  its  air  for  three  days,— 
I  was  cured  of  the  bronchitis  from  which  I  was  suffering. 
I  am  sure  it  could  be  utilized  for  chest  and  throat  mala- 
dies with  success — thus  extending  the  miracle. 

[If  I  failed  to  discover  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Dead  Sea,  I  did  not  fail  to  discover  their 
prototypes  in  the  Living  Sea  outside  of  Palestine.  .  .  .] 

The  afternoon  we  devoted  to  the  Jordan — wandering 
along  its  banks,  and  bathing  face  and  hands  in  its  sacred 


312  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

stream. — I  was  seized  with  an  intense  desire  to  be  rebap- 
tized — to  be  buried  in  its  holy  waters  with  Him  who  had 
set  the  great  example!  Though  I  believe  that  Baptism  by 
immersion  is  the  preferable  way — had  I  had  the  shade  of 
a  doubt  touching  aspersion,  I  should  certainly  have  dis- 
pelled it  by  repeating  the  rite  that  day  in  the  Jordan. 

Another  glorious  sunset,  and  nightfall,  from  the  con- 
vent battlements, — another  night  in  our  high  narrow  cells, 
— another  ardent  sunrise;  and  we  came  away  with  reluc- 
tant almost  sorrowful  hearts. 

The  good  Abbot  and  his  kind  French-speaking  friar 
could  not  do  enough  for  our  comfort  and  happiness.  The 
Abbot  spoke  Greek,  Russian,  and  Arabic, — none  of  which 
I  spoke.  When  he  gave  his  last  Benediction  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  New  Testament,  my  husband  could  reply; 
but  all  I  could  say  was  "Alpha  and  Omega!" — and  the 
dear  man  was  as  deeply- moved  as  was  I.  ... 

Ah !  How  gladly  would  we  have  lingered  there,  in  that 
holy  place  of  sacred  memories,  where  there  was  nothing 
of  the  world,  and  naught  of  doubt. 

The  bells'  sweet  chime  followed  us  with  love  and  prom- 
ise in  their  melting  voices  far  across  the  plain  of  Jericho 
in  that  radiant  Oriental  morning — and  its  harmony  and 
warmth  will  remain  in  my  heart  forever. 

All  the  homeward  way  -  "homeward  way"  indeed  - 
going  back  to  Jerusalem, — there  was  a  melancholy  chime 
following  us  all  the  day — until  the  eventide  came  on  as 
we  climbed  the  Mount  of  Olives  from  Bethany,  and  again 
beheld  Jerusalem  in  its  awful  grandeur  of  the  solemn 
shades  of  the  coming  night ....  From  out  those  tombs 
through  which  we  moved,  there  seemed  to  rise  long-re- 
cumbent forms  and  pleading  hands  of  the  people  of  Israel 
stretched  forth. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  EASTER  VIGIL  IN  JERUSALEM. 

TO-MORROW  is  the  Great  Paschal  Feast.  We  must 
keep  the  vigil.  And  that  we  may  be  alone,  we  go 
at  twilight  upon  the  broad  terrace  of  the  house-top  where 
we  sit  in  sorrow  and  in  spiritual  sack-cloth  and  ashes,— 
with  the  Old  Jerusalem  in  ruins  at  our  feet, — the  New 
Jerusalem  spanning  the  Universe  in  all  its  effulgent  glory 
over  our  heads ! 

After  our  meditation  of  contrition  we  must  render 
thanks  to  our  Heavenly  Father  who  has  brought  us 
throughjfe  perils  of  the  deep,  fire,  and  pest — so  far  away 
from  our  belle  France — aye! — from  the  still  more  distant 
home-lantl — half  a  world  away! — which  1  may  never  see 
again ....  Across  mountain,  plain,  and  desert-wastes  of 
the  Dark  Continent;  —  beneath  the  deep  firmament  and 
the  near-hanging  stars  of  the  Mystic  Nile; — hither  and 
thither  in  the  Blue  Intermediate  Sea ; — then,  with  tired 
yet  glad  feet,  to  the  Sacred  Soil,  up  through  the  Holy 
Hills  of  Palestine ; — and  at  last  to  the  summit  of  our  life's 
pilgrimage — even  unto  Jerusalem! — It  had  been  the  low, 
longing,  monotone  refrain  of  all  my  life — Jerusalem! — 
Jerusalem .... 

And  now  we  have  walked  her  streets ;  we  have  circum- 
scribed her  threefold  walls;  we  have  kept  sorrowful  step 
with  Jesus  all  along  the  Via  Dolor osa;  we  have  meditated 
the  Ancient  Scriptures  beneath  the  cypress  trees  which 


314  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

grow  in  the  midst  of  Solomon's  Temple;  we  have  prayed 
in  the  Great  Mosque  of  Omar,  our  faces  against  the  rock 
where  Abraham  went  up  to  sacrifice  his  Isaac;  we  have 
bathed  our  brows  in  the  Pool  of  Bethsaida — asking  God 
to  heal  as  was  done  of  old; — we  have  wept  with  the  Jews 
in  their  Place  of  Wailing;  we  have  mounted  the  Calvary 
alone,  carrying  our  cross;  we  have  knelt  and  asked  ar- 
dently for  a  sign  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre — weeping  because 
He  was  not  there ....  and  to-morrow  is  the  Feast  of  the 
Paschal  Lamb! 

Keeping  the  Vigil — looking  out  from  Zion's  Hill  upon 
the  Holy  Ideal  and  the  unholy  Real  city  at  our  feet,— 
across  its  serried  centuries,  and  with  its  sacred  dramas 
within  our  souls, — out  beyond  the  Calvary,  over  Mount 
Moriah  and  the  Temple  Walls,  across  the  Valley  of  Je- 
hoshaphat,  Gethsemane,  and  the  Mount  of  the  Ascension, 
—and  beyond,  over  the  hills  of  Judea,  to  where  the  Jordan 
flows. — Long  we  look  out  on  the  sad,  beautiful  earth,  and 
up  into  the  deep  glorious  Heaven — drinking  in  tears  of 
melancholy  happiness. — Long  we  stand,  sit,  or  kneel;— 
thinking  and  praying  through  the  slow  waning  hours  of 
the  still  night ; — recalling  the  weal  and  woe  of  the  ancient 
days  of  Israel: — Babylon,  mistress  of  the  world, — Rome, 
conqueror ;  and  all  those  dreadful,  sacrilegious  wrars  which 
watered  the  city  with  the  blood  of  those  who  fought  in 
the  name  of  God  against  those  who  fought  in  the  name  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace! — Mad,  blinded  creatures  of  hate!— 
Ah!  God  of  Mercy! — God  of  Mercy!  Have  pity! — Have 
pity! 

Sadly,  sweetly,  they  wear  away — the  dead  hours  of  the 
solemn  night!  The  awful  silence  broken  ever  and  anon 
by  the  voice  of  the  muezzin  from  the  adjacent  minaret 
of  David's  Tower — its  mysterious  tremolo  wailing  out 
over  the  city,  full  of  pilgrims,  who  are  keeping  the  Vigil, 
— over  the  darkling  shadows  and  the  dark  walls  of  Jeru- 


THE  EASTER  VIGIL  IN   JERUSALEM.  315 

salenv — out  into  the  far  desert,  and  on  in  tender  suppli- 
cations throughout  the  world:  "O  God,  Just  and  Merci- 
ful! hear  the  prayer  of  Thy  children  who  have  need  of 
Thee!" 

Slowly  the  constellations  are  coming  up  from  the  East 
into  a  deeper  night;  and  now  we  turn  our  eyes  up  to  the 
Northern  horizon  —  up  beyond  where  Mizpah  stands 
against  the  sky — up  beyond  Nazareth,  beyond  Syria,  and 
over  the  beautiful  Bosporus, — on  beyond — beyond — to  the 
Black— the  gore-black  Black  Sea, — from  whose  shores  a 
lurid  light  flashes  into  the  heavens,  lessening  the  light  of 
the  stars.  And  now  what  strange,  red  clouds  float  in  the 
air,  like  huge  reflections  of  clotted  blood,  across  the  sky! 
Long  we  gaze  and  ponder  over  the  strange  phenomenon, 
until  our  eyes  seem  petrified  in  their  sockets  and  all  our 
being  is  paralyzed  with  horror,  while  the  north  breeze 
bears  a  sickening  odor; — O  God!  in  pity,  stop  massacre 
between  those  who  believe  in  Thee! 

Slowly  wears  the  Vigil. 

Now  bursts  through  the  silent  air  the  bugle's  blast 
from  the  Moslem  sentinel  on  the  draw-bridge  of  the  Cita- 
.del  hard  by,  calling  us  back  to  Jerusalem — to  the  thou- 
sands of  pilgrims  within  her  walls  who  are,  also,  watching 
and  praying  through  the  sad  night.  They  have  come 
hither  from  near  and  far ;  from  lands  undreamed-of  when 
He  was  here; — and  all  are  filled,  as  are  we,  with  the 
sorrowfullest  sentiments  that  can  stir  the  Christian  soul; 
for  nowhere  else,,  nowhere  on  the  face  of  this  beautiful, 
sin-cursed  earth,  have  Heaven  and  Hell  dwelt  so  closely, 
and  in  permanence,  as  here  where  the  Saviour  of  Men— 
the  Prince  of  Peace,  lived  and  was  slain — that  those  who 
believe  in  Him  might  dwell  together  in  love!  God  have 
mercy  upon  us!  And  there  they  are,  still  crowded  into  their 
ghetto,  though  they  outnumber  the  other  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem — the  descendants  of  those  who  crucified  Him, 


316  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

"not  knowing"  what  they  did" — while  we  crucify  Him 
daily,  knowing  wrell  what  wre  do!  Can  w^e,  with  all  our 
knowledge  of  Truth,  have  hope  of  forgiveness  while  we 
still  refuse  it  thus  to  them,  in  spite  of  the  last,  loving  com- 
mand of  the  Perfect  One  of  their  race? 

We  too  often  forget  that  it  was  not  the  Jewish  "people" 
—His  people — wrho  crucified  their  Holy  One,  but  a  few 
fanatics  of  the  synagogue  in  league  with  Roman  militar- 
ism and  domination. — Israel  was  thenceforth  divided;  the 
scission  was  accomplished  in  this  unjust  condemnation. 
And  what  was  equally  disastrous  for  the  world,  dissension 
and  discord  began  between  His  followers  at  the  very  foot 
of  the  Cross — aye,  before  He  was  delivered  to  be  slain;— 
and  it  has  continued  ever  since — nearly  2000  years !  There 
was  a  flaw  at  the  -first  in  Christianity:  His  disciples  zvould 
not  follow  His  example! 

And  still  they  come  up  hither  —  Christians  of  all 
tongues  and  races  and  climes; — representatives  of  all 
Christian  nations  and  governments — flocking  here  to  live 
in  perpetual  wrangling  and  quarrel  over  an  empty  tomb ! 
— forgetting  the  Risen  Lord!  Missionaries  from  every 
section  of  His  Church  come  declaring  that  their  broken, 
branch  is  the  true  trunk  of  the  Living  Vine  which  He 
has  planted; — and  with  dispute  and  hatred  claim  pre- 
emption of  the  hard  Dead  Letter, — not  only  of  that  broken 
stone  which  covers  the  spot  where  they  laid  Him  but  of 
a  gilded  lamp,  a  shred  of  tapestry,  a  bit  of  carpet; — even 
unto  the  shedding  of  brother's  blood — outraging — driving 
out  the  Holy  Spirit  with  hellish  hatred,  cudgels,  swords, 
and  guns ! — This  we  Christians  do — while  the  Jews  do  not 
quarrel  over  the  dead  \vall  of  their  fallen  temple — nor  the 
Moslems  over  the  rock  of  Mount  Moriah; — they  weep 
and  pray. 

The  lust  of  gold  and  of  domination,  with  fanaticism, 
maintain  perpetual  dissension  within  these  sacred  gates; 


THE  EASTER  VIGIL  IN  JERUSALEM.  317 

and  discord  reigns  throughout  the  Christian  Church,  be- 
cause of  her  great  apostasy!  Who  can  doubt  that  it  is 
by  Divine  Direction  that  all  the  Holy  Places — Bethlehem, 
Nazareth,  Jerusalem  and  all  the  others  are  under  the 
guardianship  of  more  faithful  believers:  the  followers  of 
Mohammed.  Within  the  Holy  Sepulchre  stands  the  Mos- 
lem soldier,  who  reveres  the  Christ  more  than  many_  who 
bear  His  Holy  Name.  They  come — we  have  seen  them 
with  our  own  eyes — those  Turkish  soldiers,  several  thou- 
sand strong,  each  with  his  loaded  gun  and  bayonet  fixed; 
and  not  only  to  keep  us  in  order  and  respectful  demeanor 
within  the  Holy  Place, — but,  as  has  often  been  the  case, 
to  prevent  our  killing-  each  other  ! — Sliainc  and  woe!  Woe 
and  shame  unto  Jerusalem! 

It  was  but  yester-night,  as  I  lingered  late  within  the 
sacred  precincts  until  the  closing  of  the  doors;  I  saw  a 
sight — and  a  sweeter  and,  perhaps,  sadder  one  no  Chris- 
tian could  ever  see !  I  saw  the  Great  Key  of  the  Holy  Se- 
pulchre carried  away  by  a  child — a  little  Moslem  maiden, 
six  years  old,  who  hugged  it  firmly  yet  tenderly  to  her 
proud  little  heart  with  her  right  hand,  while  her  left  clung 
to  that  of  her  venerable  Arab  grandsire,  whose  right  hand 
had  been  injured  and  who  is  the  hereditary  "doorkeeper 
in  the  House  of  the  Lord."  And  to-night  I  bless  that  fair, 
bereaved  American  maiden,  called  "Marie,"  who  has  sent 
by  me  the  gift  of  a  golden  necklace  to  this  little  Moslem 
maiden.  Women's  hearts  must  touch  each  other  round 
the  world,  for  their  loving  faith  will  be  the  healing  of  the 
nations. 

All  honor  to  the  Moslem  who  keeps  the  Holy  Tomb  of 
Jesus ! 

All  shame  to  Christians  who  desecrate  it!  We  have 
lost  the  key  and  thrown  away  our  heritage ! 


3l8  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

We  are  still  on  the  house-top,  and  the  vigil  continues. 
As  I  withdrew  my  mind  from  its  pondering,  and  my  eyes 
from  the  dark  spangled  night,  I  turned  my  gaze  downward 
into  those  reeking  streets  of  Jerusalem — into  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  filled  with  the  vast,  praying  multitude,  wrho  were 
keeping  the  vigil  prostrate  on  the  earth — and  down  into 
my  own  soul — asking  the  direct  and  final  question :  "But 
what  came  we  here  for  to  see  ? — What  look  we  for  in  this 
holy  hell?  What  seek  we  in  this  Empty  Tomb?"  And 
the  answer  came  hack,  up  and  out  of  its  depths — low,  but 
full,  sure,  and  strong:  ""Whether  ye  know  it  or  know  it  not, 
O !  sad,  sorrowing  world !  Ye  are  seeking  the  unity  of 
Humanity  in  the  Unity  and  in  the  love  of  God!  Be  not 
forever  downcast.  He  overcame  the  world,  and  at  last— 
at  last — ye  will  follow7  Him!" 

Ah,  yes!  thank  God,  there  is  something  in  Jerusalem 
better  than  this  dark  side  and  bitter  cup; — something 
brighter,  something  higher,  for  here  is  the  throne  of  Eter- 
nal Hope !  and  though  heart-sick,  soul-sick,  we  lift  our  eyes 
upward  in  relief  from  this  long  gaze  and  these  melancholy 
meditations, — up  where  the  great  overbending  world  of 
cerulean  blue  lifts  up  and  holds  within  its  ramparts  of 
stars,  the  other,  the  New  Jerusalem ! — up  where  there  is 
no  error  nor  hatred  nor  sin  nor  sickness ;  up  where  dwell 
all  who  are  beautiful  and  holy ; — and  in  their  midst  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  drawing  all  men  to  Him  in  the  glorious 
Victory  of  Love ! 

And  now,  through  the  silence,  comes  a  sweet,  low 
chime  of  bells  from  far,  far  away. — Can  it  be  from  those 
hills? — from  the  convent  there  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan? 
There  is  hope  and  joy  in  their  tones ....  And  now  clangs 
out  the  great  bell  from  the  ruined  tower  of  The  Tomb ! 

'Tis  midnight!— 'Tis  morn! — HE  is  RISEN! 

HALLELUJAH  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

JUXTAPOSITION  AND  CONCLUSION. 

"Islam  is  a  promise; — Christianity  a  menace." 

— Bonaparte. 

THE  religion  of  Islam  is  simple  and  kind: — Our  reli- 
gion— not  that  of  Christ — is  complex  and  hard. 

Moslems  have  two  articles-  of  Faith  —  God  and  the 
Judgment.  Their  creed  is  short  and  unvarying:  "God  is 
the  only  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His  Prophet/'  Our 
creeds  are  various  ^nd  variable — our  articles  of  Faith  in- 
numerable. 

We  are  sectarian,  intolerant  of  all  other  forms  of  re- 
ligion than  our  own;  Islam  is  universal  and  tolerant  of  all 
other  religions  which  acknowledge  God. 

We  are  divided  into  about  500  sects, — while  Islam  is 
a  unit. 

There  are  no  infidels  in  Islam, — while  all  of  our  sects 
are  ravaged  by  doubt,  scepticism,  and  infidelity. 

Christianity  makes  and  imposes  new  doctrines ; — Islam 
imposes  simply  that  which  God  himself  imposes: — Faith 
in  Him. 

Mussulmans  have  few  needs,  and  live  by  faith  and 
very  little  bread,  with  a  lapsing  tendency  to  primitive  cus- 
toms. Our  faith  is  not  over-strong,  but  our  appetites  are 
immense,  with  overweening  desires  for  all  the  "comforts" 
of  "modern  improvements"  and  progressive  luxuries. 

Christianity  has  early  fallen  into  Apostasy;  hence  our 


3^O  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

doubts,  dissensions,  dominations,  and  heresies;  —  Islam 
has  kept  its  faith  unswervingly  in  its  primitive  and  simple 
integrity. 

Islam  is  a  vast  Brotherhood,  composed  of  minor  cir- 
cles;— Our  "individualism"  leads  us  to  selfishness  and  sec- 
tarianism. 

Islam  cannot  be  governed  by  Princes  of  the  World, 
but  accepts  the  absolute  government  of  God.  We  are  apt 
to  ignore  the  government  of  God  and  evade  that  of  man. 

The  three  great  governments  founded  of  God  in  the 
world  have  been  Republics,  which  means  Brotherhoods: 
Israel,  Christianity,  and  Islam; — and  they  must  eventually 
become  one  Divine  Humanity. 

When  Church  and  State  are  irreconcilable;  Christians 
who  hold  them  as  separate  factors  in  Government — let  go 
the  Church, — and  society  is  divided  into  hostile  factions. 
(Rome  holds  to  Caesar  more  than  to  Christ.)  Moslems, 
who  hold  that  religion,  being  the  government  of  God, 
embraces  all  others  according  to  the  Lawr  of  Moses,  and 
the  following  of  Mohammed;  let  go  the  State,  and  still 
remain  a  universal  Republic  or  Brotherhood. 

Christian  worship,  with  its  preponderating  voteries  and 
imposing  pomp,  includes  numerous  saints — and  often  to 
the  exclusion  of  Christ — and  even  to  the  obliteration  of 
God,  while  Islams  admit  rare  saints  and  no  idols — keeping 
to  the  primordial  commandment  which  Jehovah  imposed: 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  God  but  Me." 

'The  symbol  of  Islam  is  the  Crescent  Moon  with  all  its 
interpretations  of  poetry  and  God's  love.  The  Christian 
symbol  of  the  Cross  is  the  constant  suggestion  of  Roman 
hatred  and  murder. 

Christians  have  a  Sacramental  Rite  of  washing  the 
body,  or  sprinkling  the  head,  once  in  their  lives  for  the 
cleansing  of  the  soul: — Moslems  believe  that  a  clean  soul 


JUXTAPOSITION  AND  CONCLUSION.  32! 

should  have  a  clean  body,  and  are  enjoined  to  take  a  bath 
every  day  of  their  lives. 

Our  morals  may  be  higher  in  theory,  but  they  are  cer- 
tainly lower  in  practice. 

Islam  has  legal  polygamy,  which  is  rapidly  disappear- 
ing. We  have  everywhere  illicit  polygamy,  and  in  some 
of  our  foremost  Christian  nations  we  have  legal  polyandry 
—patented  prostitution — and  both  are  on  the  increase. 

If  polygamy  is  a  black  spot  on  Islam — and' it  certainly 
is — prostitution  is  a  blacker  one  on  Christianity! 

Polygamy,  which  was  a  tolerated  imperfection  of  our 
Patriarchs,  rapidly  disappeared  among  the  Jews  when  the 
light  of  Christianity  environed  Israel;  and  it  is  now  dis- 
appearing in  Islam  as  the  principles  of  Christian  marriage 
are  penetrating  the  world. 

Polygamy  in  Islam  has  its  natural  ally: — easy  divorce. 
Christian  divorce  is  hard,  more  cruel,  and  in  a  form  far 
more  destructive  to  the  family. 

Mohammed  had  twelve  wives; — Jesus  had  none. 

To  follow  the  example  of  Mohammed,  concerning  mar- 
riage would  be  disastrous  to  all  human  society.  To  follow 
the  example  of  Jesus,  concerning  marriage,  would  be  the 
destruction  of  the  human  race. 

There  are  no  illegitimate  children  in  Islam,  while  the 
illegitimate  births  in  some  of  the  foremost  cities  of  Chris- 
tendom frequently  attain  to  over  a  third  of  the  whole 
number. 

Moslems  are  accused  of  buying  their  wives; — while 
we  pay  men  for  taking  our  daughters  off  our  hands. 

The  fact  is  that  the  money  given  by  Moslems  to  the 
parents  of  the  bride  by  the  bridegroom  is  her  dowry  and 
is  to  remain  intact  for  use  in  case  she  becomes  a  widow 
or  is  divorced ; — while  the  money  given  to  the  bridegroom 
by  Christian  parents  of  the  bride  is  usually  at  the  entire 


322  THROUGH  THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

discretion  of  the  husband — and  we  know  too  well  the  sad 
results. 

With  Moslems,  love  usually  begins  with  marriage;— 
with  Christians,  it  too  frequently  ends  there. 

Islam  has  one  moral  for  men  and  women;  and  purity 
is  enjoined  equally  upon  all. — So-called  Physical  Science 
has  not  un frequently  claimed  the  contrary  among  Chris- 
tians. 

Islam  has  no  outcast,  homeless,  or  unprovided-for 
women ;  and  therefore,  no  class  of  working- women,  forced 
to  earn  their  daily  bread; — while  the  merciless  treatment 
of  weak  and  helpless  women  is  one  of  our  cruelest  sins.* 

In  a  fair  land  of  Europe,  \vhere  there  is  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  Christian  monarchs,  I  have  seen  women- 
some  young  and  some  bent  with  age — yoked  with  oxen 
plowing  the  fields,  and  harnessed  with  donkeys  and  dogs 
pulling  ofTal  carts  through  their  magnificent  university 
towns — where  other  women  are  highly  educated ! 

Islam  has  no  "poor  class" ;  and  frequently,  as  in  Egypt 
and  Tunis,  Mussulmans  can  only  bequeath  their  property 
to  the  second  generation — the  principal  remaining  intact 
for  the  Charity  Fund — whose  income  often  exceeds  the 
expenditure.  The  giver  is  not  vainglorious  nor  the  re- 
cipient humiliated  by  this  equitable  distinction  of  God's 
munificence  among  brethren. — The  neglect  of  our  poor  is 
the  blackest  blot  on  our  Christianity! 

Mussulmans  are  sober  and  healthy,  as  they  eat  simple 
food  and  drink  no  wine  or  fermented  beverages — save 
when  taught  to  do  so  by  Christians- — while  we  are  neither 
sober  nor  healthy,  as  we  drink  all  manner  of  poisonous 
beverages,  and  eat  to  our  destruction. 

*  In  Germany  there  are  five  million  five  hundred  thousand  women  em- 
ployed in  factories ;  in  England,  four  millions ;  in  France,  three  million  seven 
hundred  thousand;  in  Italy  three  million  five  hundred  thousand;  and  the  same 
number  in  Austro-Hungary. 


JUXTAPOSITION  AND  CONCLUSION.  323 

In  self-control  and  fidelity  in  religious  practice,  Mos- 
lems give  a  salutary  example,  especially  in  fasting;  while 
our  "fast  days"  are  seldom  remembered  and  our  Lenten 
season  is  everywhere  attenuated,  and  often  entirely  aban- 
doned. All  adult  Moslems,  and  even  little  children,  are 
eager  to  observe  the  great  fast  of  Ramadan.  This  they 
do  religiously  and  joyfully. 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  a  people  who  can  thus 
control  appetite — neither  eating  a  mouthful  of  food,  nor 
drinking  a  drop  of  water,  through  the  long  laborious  day, 
nor  smoking  a  whiff  of  tobacco  from  dawn  to  dusk  during 
thirty  days,  are  our  superiors  in  moral  and  physical  cour- 
age as  well  as  religious  faith. 

But  in  summing  up  all  this,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  I  firmly  believe  that  the  Christian  Ideal  of  life  is  the 
highest  ever  revealed  to  man. 

Without  the  most  distant  idea  of  proselyting  in  any 
way,  I  do  not  only  believe  that  the  contact  of  the  three 
Monotheistic  religions,  and  their  races,  can  but  be  profit- 
able to  each,  if  each  one  follow^  its  respective  principles- 
keeping  commandments  of  God  which  are  common  to  us 
all:  Jews,  Christians,  and  Moslems;  but  I  believe  it  is  the 
only  possible  means  of  peace,  progress  and  happiness 
among  mankind. 

As  all  purely  human  interests  must  fail  to  bind  Hu- 
manity together  in  happiness,  we  must  seek  it  elsewhere. 
And,  as  the  bond  of  Brotherhood  has  its  center  in  Father- 
hood, so  the  only  ultimate  and  absolute  bond  of  union 
among  the  children  of  this  earth  is  in  that  which  binds 
us  to  the  Creator — the  Eternal  Father.  That  bond  is 
Religion  (religare — which  signifies  to  bind  anew  or  back 
— to  be  united  from  the  source). 

I  believe  that  Islam  cannot  fail,  because  of  its  great 
faith  in  God.  But  to  be  a  powerful  and  beneficent  factor 
of  humanity,  it  must  awaken  from  its  somnolence  and  in- 


324  THROUGH   THE  LANDS  OF  ISLAM. 

difference  and  take  its  rightful  place  in  the  march  of 
science  and  civilization — outdoing  its  glorious  past. 

I  believe  in  the  future  of  Christianity,  if  it  returns  to 
its  Divine  Founder — to  its  origin — when  the  Faith  needed 
no  man's  creeds,  and  Christians  needed  no  General  Coun- 
cils ;  but  were  willing  to  live  and  ready  to  die  for  the  grand- 
est principle  ever  emitted  from  Jehovah: — Love. 

I  believe  in  the  Re-awakening  of  the  great  and  noble 
Arab  race, — with  its  grand  intellectual  and  moral  qualities, 
— which  gave  to  the  world  for  centuries  its  highest  civili- 
zation. 

And  I  believe  in  the  Restoration  of  the  Jews,  who  are 
the  Fathers  of  these  other  two  religions,  but  not  as  a  na- 
tion. Israel  is  the  mysterious  Gulf-Stream  running  through 
the  vast  ocean  of  Humanity,  carrying  with  its  warm  per- 
sistent current,  the  Great  Determinate  Faith  of  One,  Per- 
sonal and  Living  God — without  which  there  can  be  nothing 
good,  permanent,  true,  or  beautiful  among  men;  for  it  is 
that  faith  which  recognizes  the  perpetual  miracle  of  God 
in  man,  and  which  covers,  by  its  beneficent  creative  influ- 
ence, with  flowers,  fruit,  and  beautiful  children,  the  utmost 
parts  of  the  earth! 

That  the  Restoration  of  Israel  may  be  possible,  the  Jews 
of  to-day  must  rise  from  the  sepulchre  where  they  persist 
in  hugging  to  their  hungry  hearts  the  heavy,  rust-eaten 
chains  of  Letter  and  Ritual ; — burrowing  amid  dry  bones 
and  dead  hopes.  And  this  Restoration  will  be  assured 
only  when  they  have  restored  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  His 
people : — Him  who  was  announced  of  God  by  the  Prophets, 
and  who,  after  the  vain  waiting  of  forty  centuries,  and  in 
spite  of  His  enemies  and  His  pretended  followers,  has 
proven  His  Messiahship  by  the  uplifting  of  humanity  into 
a  recognized  Brotherhood;  and  has  brought  to  the  sin- 
ning, sorrowful  hearts  of  men  the  ineffable  assurance  of 
Eternal  Life!  And  this  Restoration  will  become  an  ac- 


JUXTAPOSITION  AND  CONCLUSION.  325 

complished  fact  when  the  Great  Jew  is  revealed  to  His 
own,  and  to  the  world  in  His  real  and  rightful  character 
-  untrammeled  by  calumny,  legend,  superstition,  and 
false  interpretation:  The  True  Christ! 

The  Restoration  of  the  Jews  will  be  the  Transforma- 
tion of  Christianity, — and  after,  the  Incorporation  of  Is- 
lam and  the  True  Gospel  preached  to  all  dwellers  on  the 
earth.  As  there  is  but  One  God,  there  cannot  ultimately 
be  but  One  Religion. 

When  these  awakenings,  reforms,  and  resurrections 
are  accomplished, — and  this  will  certainly  come  to  pass — 
then  there  will  be  no  more  killing  of  men — no  more  reli- 
gious or  political  despotic  governments,  no  more  hatred 
nor  contentions  —  no  more  down-trodden  peoples,  and 
no  more  poor  nor  sick;  for  the  Commandments  of  God 
will  be  the  accepted  rule  of  all  nations,  and  all  individuals ; 
and  Peace  and  Love  will  reign  with  the  universal  Brother- 
hood;— and  then  will  begin  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on 
earth! 

IT  IS  WRIT! 


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251.     THE  RISE   OF   THE  PEOPLE   OF  ISRAEL,   by  C.   H.   Cornill,   in   EPITOMES  OF 

THREE   SCIENCES,    COMPARATIVE  PHILOLOGY,    PSYCHOLOGY  AND   OLD 
TESTAMENT  HISTORY,  H.  H.  Oldenberg,  J.  Jastrow,  C.  H.  Cornill.    1890.    Pp. 

130.     Cloth  50c  net.     (2s.  6d.). 

255.  LAO-TZE'S   TA O-TEH-KING.     Chinese-English.     With    Introduction,    Transliteration 

and  Notes  bj  Paul  Carus.     1898.     Pp.  345.     $3.00.     (15s.). 

275.  THE  WORLD'S  PARLIAMENT  OF  RELIGIONS  AND  THE  RELIGIOUS  PARLIA- 
MENT EXTENSION,  a  Memorial  Published  by  the  Religious  Parliament  Extension 
Committee.  Popular  edition.  Enlarged  by  the  publication  of  the  Main  Responses 
received  in  acknowledgement  of  the  Memorial.  1899.  Boney-Carus.  Pp.  56. 

277.  SOLOMON  AND  SOLOMONIC  LITERATURE,  by  Monaure  Daniel  Conway.  1899. 
Pp.  viii.,  243.  Cloth  $1.50  net.  (6s.). 


283.     ACVAGHOSHA'S  DISCOURSE  ON  THE  AWAKENING  OF  FAITH  IN  THE  MAHA- 

YANA.  Translated  for  the  first  time  from  the  Chinese  Version  by  Teitaro  'Suzuki. 
1900.  Pp.  xiv.,  160.  Cloth  $1.25  net.  (5s.  net.) 

292.  BIBLICAL    LOVE-DITTIES,    A   CRITICAL   INTERPRETATION   AND    TRANSLA- 

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Hopkins  University,  Baltimore.  1902.  Pp.  10.  Paper,  5c.  (3d.). 

293.  BABEL  AND  BIBLE,  A  Lecture  on  the  Significance  of  Assyriological  Research  for 

Eeligion,  Delivered  before  the  German  Emperor  by  Dr.  Friedrich  Delitzsch,  Pro- 
fessor of  Assyriology  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  Translated  from  the  German 
by  Thomas  J.  McCormack.  Profusely  illustrated.  1902.  Pp.  66.  50c  net. 

293a.  BABEL  AND  BIBLE,  Two  Lectures  on  the  Significance  of  Assyriological  Research 
for  Religion,  Embodying  the  most  important  Criticisms  and  the  Author's  Replies, 
by  Dr.  Friedrich  Delitzsch,  Professor  qf  Assyriology  in  the  University  of  Berlin. 
Translated  from  the  German  by  Thomas  J.  McCormack  and  W.  H.  Caruth.  Pro- 
fusely illustrated.  1903.  Pp.  iv.,  167.  75c  net. 

294.  THE  CREATION — STORY  OF  GENESIS  I.     A  Sumerian  Theogony  and  Cosmogony, 

by  Dr.  Hugo  Radau.     1902.     Pp.  vi.,  70.     Boards  75c  net.     (3s.  6d.  net.) 

316.  THE  TEMPLES  OF  THE  ORIENT  AND  THEIR  MESSAGE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF 

HOLY  SCRIPTURE,  Dante's  Vision,  and  Bunyan's  Allegory,  by  the  Author  of 
''Clear  Round!"  "Things  Touching  the  King,"  etc.  With  a  Map.  1902.  Pp. 
viii.,  442.  $4.00. 

325.  THE  GODS  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS  OR  STUDIES  IN  EGYPTIAN  MYTHOLOGY, 

by  E.   A.   Wallis  Budge,  M.   A.,  Litt.   D.,  D.   Lit.,   Keeper   of  the   Egyptian   and 
•  Assyrian  Antiquities  in  the  British  Museum.    With  98  coloured  plates  and  131  illus- 
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226.  THE  BOOK  OF  THE  DEAD,  an  English  translation  of  the  Chapters,  Hymns,  etc.,  of 
the  Theban  Recension,  with  Introduction,  Notes,  etc.,  by  E.  A.  Wallis  Budge, 
M.  A.,  Litt.  D.,  D.  Lit.  Keeper  of  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  Antiquities  in  the 
British  Museum,  with  four  hundred  and  twenty  vignettes.  1901.  3  vols.  Pp.  702. 
$3.75  per  set  net.  Vols.  VI,  VII,  VIII  in  the  series  of  Books  on  Egypt  and  Chaldea. 

317.  A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT,  From  the  End  of  the  Neolithic  Period  to  the  Death   of 

Cleopatra  VII,  B.  C.  30,  by  E,  A.  Wallis  Budge,  M.  A.,  Litt.  D.,  D.  Lit.,  Keeper  of 
the    Egyptian    and    Assyrian    Antiquities    in    the    British    Museum.     Richly    illus- 
trated.    8  vols.     Cloth  $1.25  each,  8  vols.  net  $10.00.     1902. 
Vol.  I,  Egypt  in  the  Neolithic  and  Archaic  Period. 
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Vol.  Ill,  Egypt  Under  the  Amenembats  and  Hyksos. 
Vol.  IV,  Egypt  and  Her  Asiatic  Empire. 
Vol.  V,  Egypt  Under  Rameses  the  Great. 

Vol.  VI,  Egypt  Under  the  Priest  Kings  and  Tanites  and  Nubians. 
Vol.  VII,  Egypt  Under  the  Saites,  Persians  and  Ptolemies. 
Vol.  VIII,  Egypt  Under  the  Ptolemies  and  Cleopatra  VII. 

319.  THE  MYSTERIES  OF  MITHRA,  by  Franz  Cumont,  Professor  in  the  University  of 
Ghent,  Belgium.  Translated  from  the  Second  Revised  French  Edition  by  Thomas 
J.  McCormack,  Principal  of  the  La  Salle  and  Peru  Township  High  School.  With 
a  Frontispiece,  Map  and  Fifty  Cuts  and  Illustrations.  1903.  Pp.  xiv.,  239.  Cloth 
$1.50  net.  (6s.  6d.  net.) 

326.  BEHA  'U'LLAH  (THE  GLORY  OF  GOD),  by  Ibrahim  George  Kheiralla,  assisted  by 

Howard  MacNutt.     1900.     Pp.  xiii.,  545.     $3.00. 

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318.  ZARATHUSTRIAN  GATHAS,  in  Metre  and  Rhythm.     Second  edition  of  the  author  'a 

version,  of  1892-94,  with  important  additions,  by  Lawrence  H.  Mills,  D.  D.,  Hon. 
M.  A.,  Professor  of  Zend  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  1903.  Pp.  xix., 
196.  Cloth  $2.00. 

339.  ZARATHUSHTRA  AND  THE  GREEKS,  a  Treatise  upon  the  Antiquities  of  the 
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the  Trustees  of  the  Sir.  J.  Jejeebhoy  Translation  Fund  of  Bombay,  by  the  Rev. 
Lawrence  Heyworth  Mills,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Zend  Philology  in  the  University  of 
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